(3/4/2020) - Michigan's presidential primary is now under a week away and absentee ballots are piling up at local clerk's offices.

They could make all the difference in the final numbers. But what if voters already mailed in a ballot and their chosen candidate has already called it quits?

Clerks are offering a solution that would allow voters to spoil their initial ballot and vote for someone else.

As primary day looms, Tuscola County Clerk Jodi Fetting goes by the numbers.

"We are a little bit on the busy side here in the office," said Fetting. "Getting all of the final preparations done and ready for Tuesday."

She explained that while her communities have seen more modest absentee gains, on the state level a change in Michigan voting law enabling voters to cast absentee ballots for any reason has nearly doubled the tally from the last election.

County clerks are reporting just shy of 800,000 absentee ballot applications, with more than 400,000 ballots already turned in.

"Absentee ballots are counted on election day," Fetting said. "Most jurisdictions will start by 8 a.m. with the goal to be finished by 8 p.m."

But amid a wave of high profile dropouts and a rapidly thinning Democratic presidential race, including former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's exit Wednesday morning, Michigan's primary ballot still has a whopping 15 Democrats on Tuesday.

So, what about the people who already voted and wound up backing a losing campaign? Turns out, they have another option.

"If a voter has already voted their ballot and their favorite candidate has since dropped out of the Democratic or Republican race, they can change that ballot," said Fetting. "It's not too late to do that."

It's called spoiling the ballot and the process is fairly straightforward.

"They'll simply have to contact their local clerk in writing and the local clerk can them give a new ballot, issue that to them by mail and or in person and the voter will simply revote that ballot for the candidate of their next choice," Fetting said.

In the end, just making sure every vote counts.

"This is their pre-election weekend, so the clerks have office hours this weekend… so the voters have that opportunity to go into their local clerks office and get it figured out," Fetting said.

The deadline to spoil a ballot already turned in and request a new one by mail is 2 p.m. Saturday. That's the final day voters can request a new ballot by mail.

The deadline for obtaining a new absentee ballot in person at a local clerk's office is 4 p.m. Monday.

See "Related Links" on the right side of bottom of this story for more information about checking the status of an absentee ballot.