Michigan elections face scrutiny, but clerks and poll workers say they're ready for Nov. 5

(FOX 2) - When Don Kavanagh walked into his Sterling Heights city office in 2016, he was only planning to pay a bill. By the time he left, he would be the community's newest election inspector.

He decided to sign up after observing postings nearby begging for help working on the upcoming election. "It was turning out to be an interesting race, and a good opportunity to people watch," he joked.

Eight years later, he's still working the elections and this year he will be one of the Sterling Heights precinct chairs. A teacher by trade, he has worked in every position needed to run the voting process. 

Election days are long ones, he admits, but they're even more rewarding. When 18-year-old voters cast their first ballot, they applaud. And over the past few cycles - some of the most consequential in modern American history - he has met 50 and 60-year-old voters who had never voted. 

"2016 brought them out of the woodwork. It was an important election and people who had never voted decided to join in," he said. "Probably going to have that again this year."

On Nov. 5, Michigan's thousands of precincts will be staffed by people like Kavanagh. Most will arrive an hour before polls open and won't leave until an hour after they close. From 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., the slow wheels of democracy will turn until the last voter in line has cast their ballot.  

In an effort to make those wheels turn a little easier, Michigan has made it more convenient to vote and easier to count those votes. In Detroit, the clerk hopes to have 100% of the city's results reported by midnight. In Ann Arbor, new registration centers are set up to help first-time voters.

There is even a new online dashboard for anyone interested in seeing how many people have voted. 

Early voting is available at all precincts for the first time while absentee ballots can be pre-processed before election day. These rules are new this cycle, but many of the people working the polls have been here before.

"It's our job to problem solve and make sure that every voter that comes in has the best experience possible," said Vicki Waldron.

Waldron is another precinct chair in Sterling Heights and when she walks into her precinct on election day, it will be her second presidential election working the polls. The long day is made easier by friends and family who bring coffee, donuts, and food to keep the workers going.

"We're in a great location, so we don't normally have issues," she said. "People are kind. You see different generations come in bringing us snacks and treats just to say ‘thank you for working.’"

Election Law Whiplash

Michigan has spent the past few years updating its voting rules that make it easier and more convenient to cast a ballot, while also reducing the burden on poll workers doing the job of tabulating.

But the extra steps are still an adjustment and, for clerks like Melanie Ryska in Sterling Heights, it requires extra staffing and training.

"The efforts we have made to make it easier to vote are to be commended. I do also believe the challenges administrators have had to undergo has been exhausting," she said. "It's whiplash, and we all have a case of that - and PTSD from 2020 because it was so challenging."

Since then, Michigan has sought to ease the burden on voters and poll workers.

The state won't be expecting the same number of absentee ballots as in 2020 when the pandemic altered voting habits. However, Michigan has still updated its election laws so poll workers can get started on processing those ballots sooner.

This November, workers will have eight days to pre-process absentee ballots, allowing them to receive them in the mail, open the envelope, and insert them into the tabulator. The last step of releasing the results won't be done until after polls close.

The most populated precincts can be the busiest - but that often comes with more available workers to help keep the lines down. It can be a different story in rural communities still expected to work all 13 hours at the polls but with fewer personnel. 

"It's a fun day. It's a long day," said Christina Smith, the Lodi Township clerk in Washtenaw County. "You know, things that you think can't happen will happen, but you just kind of roll with it, and you do the best that you can, given the situation that you're in."

In the hyper-partisan era of politics, Smith finds herself in the unique position of running the township's elections while also running for office. Even as faith in the country's election infrastructure falters, she says she isn't worried about her constituents trusting her to obey her oath of office.

"I've grown up in this township. I've lived here my whole life," she said. "They know that I play by the book and that there are no shortcuts. I'm here to do a job and that is what I'm going to do."

Smith expects election day to be easier than in past years because of the new early voting option and no-reason absentee available to voters. That could reduce the volume of election-day voters on Nov. 5, but it also means finding staff for nine days of early voting.

A short drive to the northeast of Lodi Township is Ann Arbor, where clerk Jackie Beaudry faces different challenges. Staffing the polls isn't an issue, but the college town is home to a lot of young people who may be eager to vote, but not necessarily registered in the city. 

"We're one of the larger cities in Michigan, but because we're a college town, we're also operating satellite offices to register and issue absentee ballots," she said. 

Beaudry said they lobbied for updated laws after long lines formed during the 2022 Midterm Election. An unexpected surge of first-time voters meant the final ballot wasn't tabulated until 1 a.m. the next day.

This cycle, there will be centers specifically for registering voters while making it easier to register to vote.

"We hope both of those things will speed up any surge on election day," she said.

A Circle of Accountability

The process for running Michigan's elections is mostly a human one, which means it relies on trained officials being part of the journey that a ballot follows every step of the way. 

For many Americans, it's not a process they trust. A Gallup poll done in September found 43% do not have confidence in the accuracy of the U.S. election. But ask the people behind that process, and they tell a different story.

"I am a firm believer that if you have any reservations of how the polls work and how the election works, you need to work an election," said Vicki Waldron. "There are so many processes and procedures in place to make sure that everything runs smoothly that day."

When Waldron's friends come to her with questions, she always makes the offer to "come volunteer with me."

She added "it's great. It's a great way to learn. And then you can answer those questions and you can feel confident."

The election system in Michigan is also designed so that it can be replicated. By filling out a ballot, a paper trail is created at every precinct that allows workers to count every vote by hand after it has been inserted into a tabulator in the event a recount is necessary to declare a winner.

All ballots are kept by the clerk, whether they are tabulated or spoiled. And attached to every ballot is the perforated tab with the voter's information printed. Before a ballot is inserted into the tabulator, the tab is removed by a poll worker. This process makes the ballot anonymous while still registering whether someone has participated. 

There are also checks and balances in place for counting absentee ballots - as well as a robust system for ensuring the votes arriving at the clerk's office are filled out by the people they're addressed by.

Warren City Clerk Sonja Buffa says the first thing her office does when they receive a mail-in ballot is check if the signature on the envelope matches the voter's signature in their Qualified Voter File. If they do not match, they contact the voter. 

She estimates about 95% of the signatures match. And when they don't, it's not because of someone committing fraud. Typically, the voters' signature has changed.

"The system we have with the state of Michigan, some of those signatures may be five years old and signatures change," she said. "I know I've changed my signature. Even how I signed 10 years ago or five years ago is different from how I sign now."

One city where false accusations of fraud descended on its absentee counting process in 2020 was in Detroit. City clerk Janice Winfrey remembers those that crowded outside the center when "election deniers - they attacked the absentee voting process."

She is encouraged by the new pre-processing rules before election day, which allows for poll challengers to be present and ensure it's carried out correctly. In addition to easing the workload on workers, it will make it easier to publish unofficial results. 

"I am concerned about narratives you can't control. That's why we'll get our work done quickly and at a professional level and at a level of perfection, because when you see we're all done and everything is balanced, the big lie - it won't matter," she said.