Land s township clerks on voting reform

Secretary of State says upgrades will go into effect in 2006

Friday, March 19, 2004
BY TOM TOLEN
News Staff Reporter

 

Township clerks in Livingston County got a first-hand accounting of voting changes recently made or in the offing, when Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land visited the county last week.

Land addressed the county Municipal Clerks Association on election reform measures recently approved in the state House of Representatives to put the state into compliance with the Help America Vote Act.

The act makes $100 billion available to help states make voting more user-friendly and foolproof. The measure was passed to prevent a recurrence of the problems in Florida in the 2000 presidential race. The improvements resulting from HAVA will go into effect in 2006.

Green Oak Township Clerk Mike Sedlak is pleased the federal government has given municipalities almost two more years to make the upgrades and prepare for the changes. "There's just not enough time to implement it now," he said.

Using the federal funds, the state will reimburse local governments for the cost of converting 100 percent to optical scan voting systems. Even local governments that previously invested in the voting devices for the 2002 election stand to gain. Sedlak said his township, which paid about $50,000 for its AccuVote machines, will get a "substantial refund." Those getting the voting systems after the state has qualified a vendor such as AccuVote will be reimbursed 100 percent.

Land said the optical scan system will be secure and provide printouts that can become part of the permanent record. "Two-thirds of the state already has optical scan, and it provides a tangible audit trail," Land said.

Livingston County is ahead of many other counties, Land says, with most municipalities having already converted. "All but only a few (units of government) in Livingston County have optical scan systems," she said.

Brighton Township Clerk Ann Bollin came away impressed with Land. "I think she's very proactive and is very receptive to new ideas," Bollin said. The moderator of the forum was County Clerk Margaret Dunleavy.

City, village and township clerks in attendance had questions about the election consolidation bills sponsored by Rep. Chris Ward, R-Brighton Township, which limits local elections to four times per year starting in 2005. The new law places responsibility for all elections in the hands of local clerks, including school elections, which were previously the purview of the school districts. The change also means voters will no longer vote in school elections at school buildings but at their regular township, city or village polling places.

Sedlak said he likes the proposal Land touted at the meeting that would result in "no reason" absentee ballots, with voters not being required to give a reason for voting absentee. "It's a great idea, it gives you an opportunity to vote at home and relieves stress," he said.

Land said the state has made big upgrades in the Qualified Voter File, and as a result voters will be able to use the magnetic strip on the back of their driver's license to display information on the voter when put through a card reader. "It's a very uncomplicated identification system," Bollin said. "You don't want it to be cumbersome to vote, and yet protect the process."