BERRIEN COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – County officials are starting the process of implementing the election law changes voters approved last November. Although the first of the 2024 elections are six months away, Berrien County Commissioners are already taking the necessary steps to get ready.
Berrien County Clerk Sharon Tyler presented information to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners last week about the changes coming with last year’s passage of Proposal 2 which added new election provisions to the state constitution including requiring nine days of early voting be offered to people in advance of state and federal elections.
Other Proposal 2 provisions are single one time application to vote absentee in all elections, state funded absentee ballot drop boxes and paid postage for absentee applications and ballots. Ballots from military and oversea voters will be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within six days.
Tyler told commissioners that people will still have the opportunity to vote in person or vote absentee, but will now be able to vote early before a state or federal election. She came to last week’s meeting because the county just received news of a state grant available to defray the costs of instituting early voting.
Commissioners followed up on her report by approving a resolution applying for funding from the Michigan Department of State and the Michigan Bureau of Elections to pay for items such as new equipment and additional staffing. Tyler estimated that instituting early voting will cost the county nearly $238,000.
The quick action by the county board to apply for the Early Voting Grant occurred because Tyler said the grant application deadline is Sept. 8 and the county board is not scheduled to meet this week. She said that the state has set aside $30 million to fund the grant program which she called a “drop in the bucket” since the law change affects 83 counties.
Tyler told commissioners that she and the election staff are proposing to offer nine days of continuous early in person voting before the three national and state elections next year. The state’s presidential primary is tentatively set for Feb. 27, the regular primary election on Aug. 6 and the general election on Nov. 5.
She’s proposing an early voting period of Feb. 17-25 before the presidential primary, July 27-Aug. 5 before the regular primary and Oct. 26-Nov. 3 before the general election. Eight hours of voting would be offered each day of early voting.
She said she’s hoping to get a grant to pay for half of the early voting costs. She said 52 election workers will have to be hired along with 44 poll workers to handle the early voting. In addition, the county will have to buy more tabulators, laptops, scanners, voting booths and signage.
While local municipalities can operate their own early voting sites or partner with other municipalities to operate joint sites, she’s proposing that the municipalities partner with the county to operate the sites.
Specifically, she’s proposing to have two early voting sites in the county, one in south county at the former AEP building the county is looking at buying in Buchanan and one in north county in Benton Township at either Lake Michigan College or the Berrien County Health Department.
“The county wants to assist municipalities with presenting voters with another means of access to elections,” she said. “The county partnering with municipalities allows municipalities to take advantage of the grant opportunity. Early voting sites must have adequate parking, security, safety and accessibility.”
Tyler said she will be coming back to the county board with more details if the county receives the Early Voting Grant. The grant doesn’t require any local match and she said she hopes to defray the remaining costs with funding from local foundations and others. She thinks the county could get a grant to cover at least half of the estimated costs.
She noted that the rules seem to be “changing daily” when it comes to implementing the election changes.
She said in addition to submitting the Early Voting Grant application, she also has to collect and submit grant application information from municipalities not planning to partner with the county. She said she knows of two municipalities considering running their own early voting sites.
The 2024 ballot should be a full one, with people deciding federal races for President, Senate and Congress, state races for the state legislature, county races for county commission and other county offices and local races for cities, townships and villages. There could also be state and local ballot proposals put before voters at some point in the year.