Angela Solomon
All three of Mason’s precincts were inside City Hall.At 5 a.m. on Election Day Sarah Jarvis, Mason City clerk, arrived to prepare her poll workers for voters’ arrival. “We probably had about 60 people here this morning just waiting to vote and then it just has not stopped all day long.” Before voters arrived on election morning, the city was already in possession of a mass of absentee ballots.
At 11:12 a.m. Jarvis said, “Right now we have more absentee ballots than we have in-person voters … we had started out the morning with about 1,900 absentee ballots and we’ve been having them come in steady all day.”
Despite a large number of absentee ballots many voters chose to vote in person on Election Day. It was Ashlynn Feeeland’s first time voting in a midterm election. She chose in person because, “I wanted a sticker.” While the “I voted” sticker has been a souvenir for many, other voters expressed different motives for voting in-person.
Sheilah Hebert, Mason Resident, said, “This is very close to my house, it’s convenient.”
Melissa Ball, Mason resident, was accompanied by her young son,Jackson as she entered city hall. “I just think it’s the best thing to do. I want to be here, I want to know that my vote is counted.” Mason City Hall also provided the opportunity for children to participate in the vote by offering separate polling booths with candidate choices ranging from Wonder Women to Batman.”With Jackson here now, I want him to see how important it is to stand up and be counted.”
Polls closed in Mason at 8 p.m. All 4,032 votes were counted by 11:15 p.m., with 2,030 of those being absentee ballots and 2002 being in-person votes. Gretchen Whitmer won in all three Mason precincts
At 7:22 p.m. Mason had accumulated 2,027 absentee ballots. In total, 4,032 votes were counted in Mason. Absentee ballots were accepted up until 8 p.m., and counting began.