Source: City of East Lansing
When precinct chairs such as Barbara Backus call out the opening of East Lansing’s election polls 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, it will mark the beginning of the end of a long preparation process.
With local elections for the East Lansing City Council and the East Lansing School Board underway, city officials, precinct workers and the voters themselves are taking part in a process that goes beyond filling out ballots and putting them in a box.
City Clerk and Assistant City Manager Marie McKenna said city officials have been working to prepare for the election even before she took on the city clerk role in August.
Although the scale of a local election is smaller, McKenna said the process still is time-consuming and important. Duties include getting voters properly registered, taking care of absentee voters and ballots for city residents, preparing the material necessary before elections and continuing to work through election day.
“As a new clerk, I am amazed by the level of detail that goes into everything that’s done,” McKenna said.
Backus has worked at almost every one of East Lansing’s 17 voting precincts during about 40 years of election experience, but her favorite spots to work at are on campus. She said she loves the job because it’s exciting to see people cast their ballot for what might be the first time.
“There are a lot of first-time voters — it’s an absolute thrill to be able to explain the process,” Backus said. “I really enjoy the enthusiasm of students.”
For no-preference freshman Alyssa Culp, the process of voting matters, but a busy lifestyle has kept her from taking the time to register and really get involved.
To her, the more publicized national and state elections typically are further up on her radar, but she said she would be more interested in city politics if more information were readily available to the students.
“I do care (about voting),” she said.
“I just haven’t registered yet. I think local politics would be easier to care about if there was more information out there.”
Once the polls close and the cogs start turning for a busy election year in 2012, McKenna said city officials will work to educate students and other potential voters to get them registered and ready for future elections.
In the meantime, she said it was important for everyone to be aware of the local politics around them — even if voting isn’t something they’re interested in.
“The city can and will do more to get students registered to get their participation,” McKenna said.
“Even if they’re not inclined to vote, they should just try to find out a little bit more about how local government affects them.”
McKenna said the city continues to look for student help with the precincts on election days, and those interested can contact her to set up a training process.
After 8 p.m., unofficial general election results will be available on the city’s website.
Check statenews.com for election updates tonight and The State News on Wednesday for official election results.
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