Caroline Miller
Travis Maki votes on Oct. 14 at the Delhi Township clerk’s office. He brought his own pen, wore a face mask and practiced social distancing to follow the clerk’s recommended safety guidelines.The League of Women Voters of Lansing Area has created a voter guide for Holt residents. The guide is designed to inform and educate residents on the candidates, proposals and the different ways to vote.
Dorothy Engelman, the vice president of programming in the League of Women Voters of Lansing Area, said the league is most commonly recognized by their voter guides that help residents understand an upcoming election. The league is a nonpartisan organization concerned with voter registration, participation and education.
“We reach out to all the candidates and ask them to respond to a set of questions and that’s what’s in the voter guides,” Engelman said.
Engelman said Holt residents can find these voter guides at the Holt-Delhi Capital Area District Library, in the Delhi Township Clerk’s Office and online on VOTE411.org.
“Online, paper copy, video, you name it, you can find out who’s running and also what the proposals are,” Engelman said.
Engelman said the league is urging residents to vote by mail because it has the least amount of risk factors.
“It’s safe and secure,” Engelman said. “Especially for anyone in the population who is compromised health-wise and worried about COVID, it’s the way to go.”
Delhi Township Assistant Clerk Amy Marlan said the office has sent out a record number of 10,000 absentee ballots. Marlan said once a registered voter has applied for an absentee ballot, the Delhi Township Clerk’s Office will issue a ballot to the voter, and once the voter has voted and sent in their ballot, it’s processing will be tracked on the Delhi Township website for the voter to see.
“When we receive their ballot it’s logged into the qualified voter file, and by going to that website they can see we did receive it and logged it,” Marlan said.
Marlan and Engelman said if a Holt resident does choose to vote in person there are safety precautions put in place at the polling locations.
“What we are doing for our workers, we are requiring them to wear a mask and/or face shield, we will supply those if they don’t have them,” Marlan said. “We are supplying latex gloves and hand sanitizer.”
Engelman said the voter is not required to wear a mask, but it is encouraged. There will be one-use pens, but the voter is encouraged to bring their own pen and to practice social distancing.
Holt resident Chad Fulk said he feels more comfortable voting in person because it’s what he has done in the past and he isn’t worried about COVID-19.
“In terms of health, I would assume it’s probably better to do it from home, just because you’re not exposing yourself, but I work in a school so I’m exposed to lots of people every day,” Fulk said.
Engelman said the goal of the voter guide and VOTE411 is to educate people and encourage them to vote.
“People fought for our right to vote and it’s just so important,” Engelman said. “There are rights and responsibilities to living in this country and one of our responsibilities is to vote.”