East Lansing

Michigan clerks prepare for most voting options ever

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Michigan voters have more ways than ever to cast their ballots. Last November, they passed Proposal 2, a constitutional amendment that mandates early voting be offered at all polling locations. Voting accessibility was also expanded in 2018 when Proposal 3 allowed carte blanche absentee voting. 

These new laws change how township and county clerks prepare for elections. Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark says these changes are positive because it is the clerk’s duty to ensure every voter can make it to the polls. “It’s all good because clerks are committed to people voting.

Ballot Issues

Abortion rights enshrined in Michigan constitution

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After Roe v. Wade was overturned in June, states like Michigan put abortion rights on their 2022 ballots. Over four million Michiganders lined up to vote Tuesday to make an important decision whether to make abortions a constitutional right. Prop 3 was the name of the abortion rights proposition on the ballot which passed overwhelmingly. Many communities had different views on Proposition 3 prior to the election. Grand Ledge resident Ryan Dahl thought his community was divided over Prop 3.

Education

18 year-old runs for Okemos School Board

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Thomas Gorman graduated in the spring from Okemos High School. After spending four years there, he knew there were some changes he wanted to see. So, he decided to do something about it. Gorman ran for the Okemos School Board in this election. Not only was this his first time on the ballot, but this was also the first general election he was eligible to vote in.

Article

Okemos School Board of Education welcomes two new members

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Following the midterm election, Okemos residents will welcome two new faces to its Board of Education. Voters elected newcomers Mary Gebara and Katie Cavanaugh, while also re-electing Dean Bolton and Vincent Lyon-Gallo. Both newcomers said they are excited to join the board and serve their respective terms. Gebara beat out candidates Adam Candeub and Michael Kieliszewski for one of the three, four-year term positions. According to WILX, the NBC affiliate in Lansing, Gebara received the most votes in the race with 4,419 or 30 percent of all votes. “I’m very excited (to join the board), I worked hard, so I’m really happy that I won and I’m anxious to get started,” said Gebara.

City Clerk

Williamston residents get ready for midterms

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Holly Thompson is the Williamston city clerk and has been busy working on preparing Williamston for one day – the 2018 midterm election. A couple of large tasks that she does for elections which help ensure a fair and easy process for her community are ordering ballots and updating computers. For residents who order ballots overseas, they ship out the absentee ballots 45 days in advance. Thompson’s office also has bipartisan flyers for people looking to learn more about the candidates. “We’ve been extra busy with the absentee ballots because those have been really high and just emails and phone calls and everything,” Thompson said.

Ballot Issues

A hike in voter registration may cause a hike in voter turn out

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Eli Pales life right now is full of plenty of coffee and lots of work. “In previous years we just haven’ t had the people in place that cared enough about voter turn out,” said Pales. 

Historically voter turn out in midterm election is low, but this time we are seeing changes said Pales. “We’ve gotten tons and tons of people registered. I’m hearing from the clerk that our voter reg numbers are gonna be on par with the 2016 general  election and that’s just absolutely insane,” he said. In fact, Pales says voter registration will end up six times higher than the last midterms.

From on-campus to off-campus, Lansing City clerk, Chris Swope, will have his hands full these next few weeks.