The biggest changes in the lifetimes of most voters will begin in just weeks during the Michigan presidential primary.
How will the evolution of the voting process affect electors in Leelanau County?
It’s a question being asked more frequently of county Clerk Michell Crocker, who along with township clerks and staff members has been working feverishly to provide a seamless election season. An amendment to the state Constitution changing the voting process takes effect in 2024.
Crocker took time last week to explain the new process, which we’ve condensed into the five things voters should know heading into 2024 presidential primary, primary and general elections.
1. Vote early but not often
The state Constitution now requires that municipal clerks provide nine days of in-person early voting for statewide elections, a process that without planning and compromise would have required opening at least one polling place for each of the nine townships in Leelanau County plus one for the small corner of Greilickville annexed into the city of Traverse City. Instead, township boards and county commissioners adopted a plan recommended by their clerks to jointly provide and man one early-voting voting location for the entire county.
Such a concept requires coordination, as safeguards were needed to track ballots — ensuring that one person can’t vote twice — through the nine-day early voting period, the absentee ballot system, and votes cast on official Election Day.
The goal was to reduce confusion and cost while meeting the new constitutional requirements.
“It shifts authority to the county election commission, although (township) clerks have a crucial role,” Crocker said. “We want to make sure there is no attempt to take away the duties of township office holders.”
2. County Building will be election central
Early in-person voting, which for the Presidential Primary election will run from Saturday, Feb. 17 through Sunday, Feb. 25, will be conducted in the commissioners meeting room of the County Building. County officials have come up with a security protocol to protect the integrity of voting machines through early voting, after which preparation will begin for in-person voting on Tuesday, Feb. 27 — Election Day.
“Even though we’ll have voting right along, that machine will remain secured by me in my office. We will not have it print the totals until 8 o’clock on the day of the election. That will be done by trained election workers, just like at any other precinct,” Crocker said.
3. Working through Holidays, weekends
Calendar watchers may notice that the early voting schedule takes in two Saturdays, two Sundays and one federal holiday.
No worries. Polls are mandated to remain open through weekends and holidays during the extended voting calendar. The front doors to the county building will be unlocked to provide access to the commissioners’ meeting room, with the rest of the County Building cordoned off.
Voting will even be allowed on Monday, Feb. 19 — President’s Day.
Similar schedules for early voting are required for the regular Primary Election and the General Election, the remaining state-wide elections in 2024.
The extended schedule for part-time election workers was a major reason for consolidating voting to one location in the county, as fewer will be needed. Crocker said clerks are wary of burning out election workers who previously were only needed once or twice for each election cycle.
4. Who’s going to pay to keep the polls open?
Well, first off, it won’t be cheap. Crocker estimated the cost to provide early voting for the regular Primary and General elections at $92,000, of which the state is expected to contribute $52,000. Cost for the remaining portion will be shared among the townships.
Whether the change will result in more ballots being cast won’t be known during the presidential primary schedule due to the high percentage of snow birds who have already left for warmer places. Crocker is not expecting a big turnout next month simply because so many voters participate through absentee ballots.
Early voting is not mandated for elections deciding only local issues such as school millage elections scheduled in May.
5. Bullet points for the detail oriented
The constitutional amendment’s reach went further than requiring a nine-day window for early voting. Other changes include:
• Electors opting to have an absentee ballot mailed to them may bring their ballot to early voting and run it through a voting machine themselves. Unchanged was an option for absentee voters to spoil a ballot that was already received by a clerk and then fill out a new one. The provision plays a bigger role in presidential primary elections because candidates drop out of the race as the primary election cycle moves from state to state. Absentee ballots received by mail are run through voting machines on Election Day.
• Forget your driver’s license for use as picture identification at the precinct? No problem. Now a plethora of other IDs will work, including those issued by Indian tribes and colleges as well as concealed pistol licenses.
• The number of election challengers allowed per political party was reduced from two per precinct to one.
A notice explaining changes in voting procedure is being mailed to all registered voters in Leelanau County. Crocker suggests that residents who believe they have registered but do not receive a notice within the next two weeks give their township clerks a call.
