Mold Remediation in Ionia, MI

Election worker Debra Hemmes of Reynolds Township, at left, assists a line of early voters at the Montcalm County Pandemic Readiness Building in Stanton on Thursday. Overall, Montcalm County had 5,338 early voters and Ionia County had 5,275 early voters over the state-mandated nine days of early voting. — DN file photo

Sunday was the last day for early voting in Michigan, and it also proved to be the busiest day for centralized early voting sites in Ionia and Montcalm counties.

Montcalm County saw 979 early voters on Sunday, easily breaking the previous Wednesday’s record of 600 early voters; while Ionia County saw 719 early voters on Sunday, breaking Saturday’s record of 691 early voters.

Overall, Montcalm County had 5,338 early voters and Ionia County had 5,275 early voters over the state-mandated nine days of early voting.

While the state of Michigan website (michigan.gov/sos/elections/election-results-and-data/voter-participation-dashboard) shows Ionia County early voter/absentee voter turnout at 33.5% and Montcalm County at 33%, Montcalm County Clerk Kristen Millard said a current more accurate number for Montcalm County is 28% as there’s guarantee that absentee ballots sent out will be returned before election day.

Early voting will be tallied along with election day votes after polls close tonight at 8 p.m., when election inspectors will offiically close polls and print a totals tape. Then they will bring the V-drive with results to each county clerk’s office to be uploaded into the election programming software and the results will be reported in a separate early voter column on the reports.

Millard noted early voter ballots were secured on each of the nine days of early voting in containers with the seal numbers recorded in both the poll book and on the ballot container certificate.

“Once those ballots are secured every night, they are not touched again until either the retention period expires, or a recount is demanded,” she said.

Montcalm County’s centralized early voting site was at the Pandemic Readiness Building in Stanton, while Ionia County’s centralized early voting site was at the former Mercantile Bank in downtown Ionia. Kent County did not have a centralized early voting site, so each municipality handled its own early voting (Kent County saw an early voter/absentee voter turnout of 47.8% while Michigan as a whole saw nearly 44% overall, according to the state website).

“They will finalize and close the polls, complete the required paperwork and walk across the room and deliver the results to me,” Ionia County Clerk Greg Geiger said with a chuckle of his election inspectors. “On my results on the website it will show the results in a separate EV (early voter) category for each precinct.”

Absentee ballots can begin being processed at 7 a.m. on election day.

“All precincts, except for Pierson and Reynolds township, process them right in the precinct with the regular precinct ballots in full view,” Millard noted.

“Overall I think early voting went very well and was very well received by our voters that utilized it,” Millard added. “Our workers did a fantastic job and the voters were appreciative, kind and courteous. I cannot count how many times I overheard voters thanking the workers for being there to allow them to vote early. We also heard lots of compliments about how quick and smooth the process was. We had 135 voters bring their absentee voter ballots to early voting to feed them into the tabulator themselves, and that went smoothly as well. Voters clearly liked the convenience of having the option to vote early without having to do it by absentee ballot.”

To follow along with local election results being reported tonight, visit ioniacounty.org for Ionia County, montcalm.us/876/November-5-2024-General-Election for Montcalm County and accesskent.com/Departments/Elections for Kent County.

ELECTION DAY

Polls will be open at individual municipalities from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today for the general election. Contact your township or city clerk with any questions about voting, or visit mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Voter/Index for more information about where to vote or registering to vote on election day.

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Voters not wishing to stand in line on election day can vote early starting today through Nov. 3.

Montcalm County voters can vote from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today through Nov. 3 (with the exception of Oct. 30, which will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) at the Pandemic Readiness Building, 651 N. State St. in Stanton, as pictured. Ionia County voters can vote from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today through Nov. 3 at the former Mercantile Bank building, 302 W. Main St. in Ionia. — DN file photo

Montcalm County voters can vote from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on any of those nine days (with the exception for Wednesday, Oct. 30, which will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) at the Pandemic Readiness Building, 651 N. State St. in Stanton.

Ionia County voters can vote from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the former Mercantile Bank building, 302 W. Main St. in Ionia.

“Same place and process as before; we just encourage people to use this option if it works out for them,” Ionia County Clerk Greg Geiger said.

The nine days of early voting is made available through Michigan’s Proposal 2022-2. The amendment allows communities to provide early voting for up to 28 days before election day; however, most rural areas just offer the nine days due to low demand.

Montcalm County Clerk Kristen Millard said there has been some confusion locally about early voting and when it starts.

“I believe people are seeing on the news that other counties have started already,” she said. “I know that East Lansing started Monday and they think that we have started already also. I have heard that some people received mailings about early voting but it didn’t have the dates on it. That was not mailed by their local clerks, that was mailed by a special interest group or a political party.”

Millard said early voters should bring their photo ID with them, and she shared some other helpful reminders.

“This is a general election and the straight party option is on the ballot,” Millard said. “Voters may cast a straight ticket, a split ticket or a mixed ticket.”

For straight ticket voting, simply vote for the party of your choice in the partisan section of the ballot and every candidate within that party will receive a vote.

For split ticket voting, voters can vote a straight ticket and also vote for individual candidates of their choice. In this case, every candidate within the party selected will receive a vote except in the races where a voter selected candidates of a different party or no party affiliation.

For mixed ticket voting, voters can vote for each individual candidate of their choice.

Millard noted that nonpartisan candidates will be on the back of the ballot along with local proposals in some municipalities. Nonpartisan candidates include judges, city, village, Montcalm Community College, local school districts and township library boards.

Write-in candidates have also filed for multiple seats in local precincts in Montcalm County and thus will not appear on the ballot.

“To vote for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot, write the name of that candidate in the blank space provided and completely darken the rectangle,” Millard said. “This must be done even if you cast a straight party vote. Do not cast a write-in vote for a candidate whose name is already printed on the ballot. The workers at early voting are not able to provide voters with the write-in candidates’ names, therefore voters need to be prepared with that information before coming to the polls.”

No physical ballots are present at Montcalm County’s early voting site; instead ballots are printed on demand when a voter walks into the facility. Election workers will check voter registration, make sure the person is registered to vote and in which precinct, and then a machine will print out the correct ballot for that voter, who will then fill out the ballot and insert it into a tabulator, just like on election day.

During the nine days of early voting, polls are not closed at night but are suspended until the following day. Polls will not actually be closed until voting is completed the night of the general election on Nov. 5, when a voter totals tape will be run. The early voting election equipment is locked each night and then locked in a secure room.

Lastly, Millard noted that election law prohibits campaigning at the polls.

“This includes but is not limited to hats, T-shirts, buttons, stickers or other items representing a candidate or proposal,” she said. “These items must be covered or removed before entering any polling location.”

A closer look …

IONIA COUNTY EARLY VOTING: Ionia County residents can vote early now through Nov. 3 at the former Mercantile Bank, 302 W. Main St. in Ionia. Hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

MONTCALM COUNTY EARLY VOTING: Montcalm County residents can vote early now through Nov. 3 at the Pandemic Readiness Building, 651 N. State St. in Stanton. Hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except for Wednesday, Oct. 30, which will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

KENT COUNTY: Kent County residents can vote early now through Nov. 3 at their respective township halls, including Grattan, Oakfield and Spencer township voters.

ELECTION DAY: Polls will be open at individual municipalities throughout Ionia and Montcalm counties from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on general election day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. Contact your township or city clerk with any questions about voting on election day.

Call (989) 831-7339 or visit montcalm.us/874/Early-Voting for more information about early voting in Montcalm County.

Call (616) 527-5322 or visit ioniacounty.org/departments-officials/county-clerk/elections/election-results for more information about early voting in Ionia County.

Call (616) 632-7650 or visit accesskent.com/Departments/Elections/polling_locations.htm for more information about early voting in Kent County.

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LANSING, MI -- Marc Finkbiner says he’s closer to retirement now that he’s hit a jackpot playing the Michigan Lottery’s Club Keno The Jack game for the second time in a decade. Finkbiner, 66, of Portland won a $148,443 prize after hitting all eight of numbers -- 05-19-29-32-46-59-78-80 -- while playing the draw game.

Finkbiner bought his winning ticket at Hot Shots Tavern, located at 137 Kent Street in Portland, roughly 20 miles northwest of Lansing.

“I was at Hot Shots Tavern with my wife playing Club Keno, and I won $3 on one ticket, so I reinvested my winnings and purchased another one,” said Finkbiner. “I was watching the drawings and saw that all eight of my The Jack numbers were drawn and when the jackpot reset to $10,000, I knew I really won! When I showed my wife the ticket and told her I’d just won $148,443 she was amazed!

“I won a $29,048 Club Keno The Jack prize back in 2015, so I am thrilled that I won again. Even though I’ve already won twice, I plan to keep playing because I believe there are more big wins in store for me!”

For the latest on Michigan Lottery, check out the official Michigan Lottery site, which also offers more information on instant tickets, raffles and other lottery games.

The last players from Michigan to win a Mega Millions or Powerball jackpot is the Breakfast Club lottery club which claimed a $842 million jackpot in June 2024. The members plan to use the money to buy a home in Florida and travel.

And while they were lucky winners, it’s smart for players to check their tickets immediately as a Mega Millions winner worth $1 million sold in Southfield in 2023 went unclaimed. The money instead went to the state’s School Aid Fund.

READ MORE:

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If you have a gambling problem and are located in Michigan, call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-270-7117 or you can visit the Michigan Gaming Control Board's website at https://www.michigan.gov/mgcb.