Allowing clerks to begin processing, but not counting, ballots the day before the election would not necessarily be a permanent change, he said.
He said he could not predict if or when the Senate would act but said it is “being very seriously considered.”He said some jurisdictions efficiently processed an enormous number of absentee ballots while others “struggled to get it done.
About 1.6 million ballots cast were absentee — returned by mail, at drop boxes or inside clerks' offices — topping the record of 1.3 million from November 2016.
Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, local clerks and voting-rights groups have urged the Republican-led Legislature to let election workers start processing absentee ballots the day before Election Day.
Johnson said cities or townships with more than 25,000 residents should be able to do certain processing of absentee ballots on Monday, Nov. 2.