Polling Place Preparation in the Copper Country
Twas the night before election day, and not a creature was stirring. Beside all of the poll station workers preparing for thousands of voters across the state. Tomorrow voters will make a number of decisions on ballot proposals, state and local representatives, and local issues. Throughout the copper country, poll workers have had weeks worth of training programs, and preparation meetings in order to get ready for the big day. One of the largest polling stations in Houghton, will be at Dee Stadium.
“We’re at Dee Stadium right now, that’s our big precinct in Houghton. I expect about 700 voters here tomorrow. That’s a big turnout, but we did have a lot of people get absentee ballots. And that usually tells us if we can expect a lot of voters on election day. When they get here, be prepared with your driver’s license or photo I.D., to make things go quickly. We can move you through pretty fast, but be prepared that you may wait in line for a few minutes.” – Ann Vollrath, Houghton City Clerk
Security is always a top priority during any election cycle. Though the topic has come up more often during more recent elections. Houghton City Clerk Ann Vollrath, says that the county is ready. And will have sheriff deputies and police officers stop by polling sites, to say hello and check in to see how election sites are handling safety.
“Houghton County Clerk, Jennifer Kelly, met with all of the local law enforcement, ahead of this election, to prepare them, that there may be problems. The state of Michigan provided us, with some information, to provide to all of the local law enforcement, about how to handle problems. Here in Houghton because we have our city police force, all of the precinct people have a direct line, right on their cell phone, to the police department if they have trouble. And our officers will be coming around just to say hi, throughout the day, to make them feel comfortable.” – Ann Vollrath, Houghton City Clerk
In the local area, there is an announcements from the County Clerk Jen Kelly, for a correction on ballots in Calumet. In Calumet, voters will only need to pick two nominees for the calumet school board, not three. Only two names will appear on the ballot for the calumet school board. Polling places will open tomorrow at 7 am. Not sure where your polling place is? Find out on Michigan.gov’s Voter Information Center, here.