Early voting has begun: Local clerks say some residents are taking advantage of new option, polls running smoothly

Read the full article on the TC Times website here.

Sharon Stone - February 21, 2024

 Nine days of early voting for the Presidential Primary began Saturday, Feb. 17. The actual election day is Tuesday, Feb. 27.

 Michigan voters passed State Proposal 22-2: Constitutional Amendment – promote the vote in the November 2022 election. This constitutional amendment does the following:

• Recognize fundamental right to vote without harassing conduct;

• Require military or overseas ballots be counted if postmarked by election day;

• Provide voter right to verify identity with photo ID or signed statement;

• Provide voter right to single application to vote absentee in all elections;

• Require state-funded absentee-ballot drop boxes, and postage for absentee applications and ballots;

• Provide that only election officials may conduct post-election audits;

• Require nine days of early in-person voting;

• Allow donations to fund elections, which must be disclosed;

• Require canvass boards certify election results based only on the official records of votes cast.

Fenton City Clerk Jennifer Kienast said 29 residents voted in person over the weekend and on Presidents Day. On Saturday, 11 residents voted, on Sunday, 12 voted and six residents voted Monday.

 “When asked how they heard about early voting, most voters reported they heard about it from the early voting notice they received in the mail, and from our Facebook post,” Kienast said. “There have been no glitches.  Early voting is a quick and convenient way to vote.”

 Thomas Broecker, operations manager and deputy clerk for Fenton Township, said Fenton Township had 12 in-person voters Saturday and 10 on Sunday.

 “Everything went very smoothly, even if we weren’t busy,” Broecker said. “I think the turnout on the initial weekend was low due to people just not thinking about voting yet because they’re not yet accustomed to the early voting option.”

 Broecker added, “It will be interesting to see how many people come to the township office to pay taxes or some other purpose this week decide to vote since they’re here anyway.

 “In general, I believe early voting will be more heavily used during November general elections due to higher overall turnout. For elections that have a total turnout of 20-35%, (like February and August for this year), I’m afraid the early voting numbers will not be very high.

 “We had a few positive comments from voters over the weekend. They liked the convenience of voting in person before Election Day.”

Tyrone Township Clerk Pam Moughler said 19 residents cast their ballot on Saturday, Feb. 17 and seven stopped by to cast their ballot on Sunday, Feb. 18. As Monday, Feb. 19 at 1:45 p.m., another 13 residents stopped by to vote.

Rose Township Clerk Debbie Miller said, “We have had 43 voters as of this morning (Monday, Feb. 19) for Rose, Holly and Springfield.

 “There were no glitches. It went very smooth,” Miller said.

Linden City Deputy Clerk Kristyn Kanyak said, “Early voting turnout for the city of Linden has been low, but all is going smooth. At end of day three, yesterday, we had a total of 13 voters. No glitches to report.”