By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES - State laws have altered the process of school elections in Michigan and voters in the Niles school district should be prepared for a few changes Tuesday, Feb. 28.
An election consolidation law passed by the state in January 2005 placed the responsibility of school elections in the hands of county and city clerks.
The school district is not responsible for the cost of reusable material such as pens, but must pay for other items, such as regular and absentee ballot materials, any postage, precinct inspectors' salaries and any legal advertisements, said Niles City Clerk Ruth Harte.
Harte and Niles Township Clerk Marge Durm-Hiatt have both had to work through the changes. But, Harte said the voters in the area are really the ones affected the most.
Harte is referring to the numbers that identify voting locations. The precincts voters use for general government elections, such as choosing a President, are not the same locations designated for school elections, Harte said.
Plus, Durm-Hiatt added, the state is encouraging her and other clerks to move election locations away from schools. The push is generally a safety concern, she said.
Each precinct is only allowed to accommodate 2,999 voters and the entire school district has close to 18,500 voters, Harte said. Therefore, the city of Niles is divided into four precincts while both Howard and Pokagon Townships are combined to make one precinct.
The new designations have left many residents confused on where they are expected to vote, Durm-Hiatt said.
People who are casting absentee ballots have been met with a surprise as well, Durm-Hiatt said. Residents of Niles Township are accustomed to receiving and returning their ballots to the township office and many were not aware the votes are not handled by Harte at the city, Durm-Hiatt said.
Harte said she has already handled over 700 absentee ballots for the upcoming school bond election, which must be recorded, packaged and mailed out by the Niles City Clerk.
The amount of precinct inspectors, or pole workers, at each polling location has also been increased, Durm-Hiatt said. A normal school election would generally require three workers per precinct. But, Durm-Hiatt said the amount of voters expected and the new equipment means there will be five inspectors at each location. Each worker will also be required to attend three hours of training prior to the election, Durm-Hiatt added.
Voters will also be using new election equipment next week. There are nine new optical scan machines - two are on loan from Durm-Hiatt and Niles Township. One machine will be at each of the eight polling locations and one is designated for absentee ballots, Durm-Hiatt said.
The technology in the new equipment resembles an image scanner and is similar to the previous machines used in the last 15 years, Harte said.
Each machine must pass two tests that are conducted by Harte in order to be used in the election. The pre-accuracy test is performed to identify any mistakes before conducting the second evaluation, which is a session for the public to attend and observe, Harte said.
To check the machines, Harte said she uses actual ballots marked with every possible scenario that could occur during voting, including ballots without any marks and ones that simulate “over voting”, or marking both selections.
The type of ballots for the upcoming election have also changed. The new format will ask voters to “complete the arrow of your choice with a bold line.”
For example, every ballot has a ‘yes' or ‘no' selection. Adjacent to each ‘yes' or ‘no' is an arrow pointed at the choices. Whichever arrow is filled in, or completed, by the voter is the response that will be registered by the machines. A pen will be provided at each station that must be used to properly complete the ballot.
The same process applies to absentee ballots except voters are asked to use only a black ink pen to complete the arrow.