New commissioner O’Brien named to election committee
By Barb Pert Templeton
Marine City Clerk Jason Bell spent time at the recent city commission meeting on Nov. 16 trying to lock in a calendar, complete with meetings and election dates, for the coming year. Doing so was a challenge with so many city boards to accommodate and new election laws that mean the city must host early voting dates in 2024.
Bell said the early voting dates are Feb. 17 through Feb. 25, July 27 to August 4th and Oct 26 thou Nov. 3. Elections will include a presidential primary on Feb. 27, an August 6 primary and then the general election on November 5.
Bell told officials that the city has to put out dates and locations for the early voting to its residents and wanted to do so by attaching the information to the resident’s winter tax bills. The state then informed officials that they must come up with another form of notification too.
“So, there may be some budget inflexes with this new early voting plan and law,” Bell said. “A lot of the municipalities in our email chains with clerks are doing postcards to notify (residents) of the early voting dates.”
Marine City Clerk Jason Bell laid out the schedule for early voting for the three elections coming up in the city in 2024.
The postcards and postage aren’t things that were budgeted for in Marine City but it may just be the best way according to clerks around the county.
“We can still, as part of the plan, put this on our website and put it on our social media sites and part of that plan too is putting them in the quarterly water bills,” Bell said.
Beyond the actual early election notifications, Bell said the city can also use some additional election inspectors and encouraged those interested to apply for the spots with the city.
“If you are interested, please apply, help us out and we buy you lunch and breakfast and all that good stuff,” Bell said.
“So, the state did all this to us and they’re not providing any additional monies for it?’ Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Hendrick asked.
“Yes and no; it is an unfunded mandate but there is a $30 million dollar grant out there for the state but again it’s for every county in Michigan so they have to split in among all those,” Bell said.
He said the city will need new equipment simply because the new laws state you can’t use the same voting tabulators for early voting as you use on voting day nor can the same tabulators be used once they are used on absentee ballots.
“We are now allowed – they have raised the total population now – so we fall in-line so we can go to one precinct in the city instead of two,” Bell said. “That will help out with the tabulator situation because if we get a third one through the grant, it works out perfect.”
Hendrick then asked how many elections workers Bell estimates he would need per day. He said he’s not 100 percent sure but he’s thinking two or three and he would supervise the early voting days, nine days, which will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“And they can work different days if they want?” Hendrick asked.
“Yes, and we don’t want anyone to work more than five days of those nine days of early voting,” Bell said, adding he believes he currently has ten names on his election inspector roster.
“It will be a chore to try and get everybody in, from the survey everybody wants to work the five -day maximum so that’s great but we made need more,” Bell said.
O’Brien named to election committee
City Manager Scott Adkins told commissioners that the city needs to appoint a member of the commission to the city’s election commission. They would serve along with the city attorney and city clerk. He said with new commissioner Sean O’Brien coming on board, after he was sworn- I, he could be a good choice.
“Slight suggestion, no requirement,” Adkins smiled.
“It’s like the easiest board to do at this point because they are five-minute meetings,” Hendrick said.
“Is it one meeting, five-minute-ish?” Mayor Jennifer Vandenbossche asked.
Hendrick responded that the meetings are very short and usually held before the city commission meetings
“They are usually not very lengthy in agenda or content discussion,” Adkins added.
Bell said there may actually be a few meetings before February because he had just gotten a calendar from the state with deadlines that have to be met by the local election commission.
Commissioner Jacob Bryson said he’s served on the election commission in the past and would be happy to do it again if need be. Or if the newly appointed commissioner wanted the post, it was his for the taking.
“I’d be happy to do it but I’m not up there yet,” O’Brien responded from the audience.
“We have ten other appointments we’re going to hand to you,” joked Attorney Robert Davis, as the commission members laughed.
“Let’s let him (O’Brien) get his feet wet because it’s an easy one so I’ll make a motion to appoint Sean as the election committee appointment,” Hendrick said.
Several commissioners added the motion should say “pending the swearing in” of the new commissioner after the current meeting.
“Nothing says welcome aboard more than an appointment,” laughed Adkins.
A role call vote then had the commission unanimously appoint O’Brien to the election commission.
