Stories indexed with the term ‘election’

Behind the county clerk's counter on election night, inspecting poll books from the city of Ann Arbor. Only Ann Arbor uses pink paper – all others are white. No one at the clerk's office knows why. From left: Ward Beauchamp, Jason Brooks, Jen Beauchamp, Janna Parmeter. (Photo by the writer.)

It’s a few minutes after 8 p.m. on Nov. 3, and polls throughout Washtenaw County have just closed. At this point it’s fairly quiet in the offices of the county clerk, where about a half dozen people are preparing for what could be a long night of processing election returns.

Matt Yankee, the deputy clerk in charge of elections, is drinking a Diet Coke and fielding questions about what needs to be done. Jason Brooks, another deputy clerk, asks how he can help. “Why don’t you do the phones and be an Ann Arbor runner?” Yankee suggests. Brooks gives a mock salute, and almost on cue, the phone rings.

The premiere of the ABC series “V” is playing on a large screen TV in the office – a ticker of election results from metro Detroit is running along the bottom of the screen – but nobody is watching.

The Chronicle spent several hours on election night shadowing this crew, getting a glimpse of what it takes to handle the returns from 116 precincts in Washtenaw County. Though there were a few glitches – mostly problems stemming from the printing company hired to make the ballots – the evening is remarkable for its organized, systematic execution of tasks. Elections are events in which the uneventful is desired.

That’s not to say that nothing happened. [Full Story]

University Townhouses, the polling location for Precinct 5 in Ward 3, had specific improvements made under a 2005 grant. (Photo by the writer on Sept. 7, 2009; links to higher resolution file.)

In a letter dated Sept. 1, 2009, addressed to Ann Arbor’s city clerk, Jackie Beaudry, the nonprofit Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service Inc. gave the city a Sept. 15 deadline to respond to its concerns about accessibility to polling locations in Ann Arbor.

The response deadline comes two weeks ahead of the expiration of a grant for which the city was approved in 2007 under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The grant was for improvements in accessibility to Tappan and Eberwhite schools.

Lansing-based MPAS is concerned that the city has not submitted work for reimbursement under the 2007 grant. And that would put in jeopardy the city’s 2009 grant application for improvements to five additional locations – Northside, Dicken, Lawton, Lakewood and Pittsfield elementary schools. The MPAS letter paints a picture suggesting the city has not made progress towards addressing problems that the city itself identified in 2004 at 21 of the city’s 48 precincts.

However, after checking into the matter with MPAS, the state’s Bureau of Elections, and Ann Arbor city staff, The Chronicle has concluded that: (i) the situation with the 2007 grant is a matter of non-communication and paperwork follow-through, (ii) that prior to 2007, the city of Ann Arbor completed work under HAVA grants, with some reimbursements already made, and other payments still in process, and (iii) the city’s strategy for ensuring access uses a variety of temporary measures on election days, as well as a work plan for more permanent fixes. [Full Story]

Matt Yankee, deputy clerk with Washtenaw County, marks ticks in columns as candidate names are read aloud during the recount of the Aug. 4 Democratic primary election for the Ward 3 city council seat. (Photo by the writer.)

Friday morning in the lower level of the county building at 200 N. Main, Letitia Kunselman held her cell phone out in the general direction of Melodie Gable, chair of Washtenaw County’s board of canvassers. Gable was wrapping up about 90 minutes of ballot recounting from the Ward 3 Democratic primary for Ann Arbor city council. By that time, her official announcement stated an outcome that everyone in the room already knew.

We’d followed the hand recount of paper ballots table-by-table, as one precinct after the other confirmed individual vote totals from the initial Aug. 4 results.

What Gable reported was exactly the news that Letitia Kunselman’s husband Stephen – on the other end of the cell phone line – wanted to hear: his own 511 votes compared to Leigh Greden’s 505 had been confirmed, leaving Kunselman the winner of the primary. The third candidate, LuAnne Bullington, picked up one vote in the recount in precincts 3-4 and 3-7 (these precincts shared a single polling location on election day), bringing her total to 382.

We include in our report the vote totals, some anecdotal bits from the morning recount, but more importantly, a brief look at the impact that Greden’s departure will have on council’s committee composition. [Full Story]

The three candidates running unopposed for the Ann Arbor Public Schools board at a League of Women Voters forum Monday night at CTN studios. From left: Glenn Nelson, Irene Patalan, and Ravi Nigam.

On May 5, voters in Ann Arbor will choose three people to serve on the Ann Arbor Public Schools board. Actually, “choose” might not be the operative word: All three candidates are running unopposed.

Two incumbents – Glenn Nelson and Irene Patalan – are running for four-year terms. Ravi Nigam, a local attorney who has not previously held an elected position, was originally running against Adam Hollier for a two-year term. Hollier has dropped out of the race, though his name will still appear on the ballot.

So rather than the debates they typically hold before local elections, the League of Women Voters instead held a forum Monday evening for the three candidates, asking their opinions on the budget, technology, the achievement gap and a range of other topics. The hour-long event was broadcast live from the Community Television Network studios on South Industrial, and is available to view online.

The league had asked Chronicle readers to suggest questions for the forum, which moderator Judy Mich incorporated to some extent. Here’s a summary of candidates’ responses. [Full Story]

During the last election cycle, The Chronicle spent several hours at the Community Television Network studios, watching debates among candidates for various local and state offices. Those debates were held by the League of Women Voters, which holds these events before every local election – and later this month, they’ll be focused on school board candidates for the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

This year, the league is asking Chronicle readers to help come up with questions for the board candidates. [Full Story]

CTN staffer Rob Cross worked the audio during Monday's League of Women Voters debates.

For local election junkies, one of the most reliable ways to get your candidate fix is from the League of Women Voters debates, held before every local election and televised on Community Television Network. This year, The Chronicle took a behind-the-scenes look at the debates, spending Monday evening at CTN’s studios on South Industrial to see exactly what happens off camera. Though the league’s motto is “Because Democracy Isn’t A Spectator Sport,” for The Chronicle that night, it kinda was. (The complete debate schedule, including frequent rebroadcasts, is here. You can find a list of all local candidates for the November election on Washtenaw County’s website.) [Full Story]

Candidate cookies at Jefferson Market & Cakery. The Chronicle did not ask why McCain's name is printed and Obama is written in cursive.

Combining politics and buttercream frosting – brilliant!

Jefferson Market & Cakery’s Cookie Vote ‘08 pits Obama against McCain in the form of sugar cookies iced with red, white and blue frosting and emblazoned with each candidate’s name. As of Wednesday afternoon, Obama was outselling McCain by 66 to 5. [Full Story]

The duffel bag containing ballots from precinct 5-4.

Early Tuesday, the lower-level conference room of the County Building at 200 N. Main was filled with the scent of freshly-groomed election inspectors, board of canvassers members, candidates and their volunteer observers, county workers, plus the odor of institutional coffee wafting from a big silver urn. The combination amounted to a distinctive smell, which The Chronicle loves … the smell of democracy in the morning. [Full Story]

The recount of votes cast in the August Democratic primary for the Ward 5 city council seat has been rescheduled for Sept. 9. Originally slated to take place this morning in the basement conference room of the County Building at 200 N. Main St., the recount was moved to Tuesday, Sept. 9, due to a scheduling conflict with the board of canvassers.

The original vote tally put Vivienne Armentrout’s total at 1,552, and Carsten Hohnke’s at 1,610. Six votes were counted for unspecified write-in candidates. Part of The Chronicle’s interest in being physically present at the recount is, if possible, to document what names, if any, were filled in the blank … [Full Story]