Voter registration, absentee ballots available on Saturday

By Jim Newell
Review Editor
ORION TWP. — With the Nov. 8 General Election less than a week away, Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults wants to remind voters who are voting absentee to get those ballots filled out and turned into her office soon.
“We have about 7,000 (absent voter) ballots that have been issued. We only have about 3,000 that have been returned. We need to get the absent voter ballots back as soon as we can to verify signatures, remedy any problems that might exist with the voter and then get those ballots in the tracking system to the Qualified Voter Records,” Shults said.
For those heading to the polls in person on Tuesday, precinct locations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters should have already received a voter registration card with their precinct number. To check precinct locations, go to www.oriontownship.org and look for the Clerk’s Office Elections link under the Departments tab.
Turning absent voter ballots in early allows Shults’s office to begin the early stages of checking in the ballots to facilitate a quicker count on election day.
“It does take a lot of time to get those all checked in,” Shults said. If the clerk’s office does not get all the absent voter ballots back over the next week, “it’s going to be nearly impossible to get them to the absent voter counting board the morning of the election.”
That does not mean that voters have to worry about their ballots being processed and counted.
“It just makes things more difficult for everyone,” Shults said.
To help make it easier for residents to drop off absent voter ballots, the clerk’s office has a box in front of its counter inside the Orion Township Municipal Complex. There’s also a drive-up drop box right in front of the municipal complex so voters don’t even have to get out of their vehicles.
“Anytime, 24/7. It’s always under security surveillance. It’s monitored, it’s emptied all the time and it’s lighted, which makes it nice and safe,” Shults said. “During business hours people are always welcome to come in and use the drop box right in front of the clerk’s office counter, or they can still put them in the outside drop box all day long.
Residents can also be assured that absent voter ballots will be processed in Orion Township, not sent to Oakland County for counting.
“All of the absent voter ballots will be processed by a sequestered voting counting board in our township boardroom,” Shults said. “It will be a sequestered group of their peers, fully representing both political parties, all political parties.”
Orion Township has more than 31,000 registered voters, so Shults hopes for good participation in these mid-term elections.
“We are quickly growing,” Shults said, adding her office is prepared. “I want 100 percent, and we’re preparing for 100 percent voter turnout. There’s a lot of new registrations, student registrations. This is a really good time that we’re in. We want everybody to vote. You have a really great turnout when everybody votes.”
The Orion Township Municipal Complex, 2323 Joslyn Rd., is open from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

For anyone voting in person on election day, the current polling locations are:
Precinct 1: St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 715 N. Lapeer Rd.
Precinct 2: The Village of Lake Orion, 21 E. Church St.
Precinct 3: Lake Orion Church of Christ, 1080 Hemingway Rd.
Precinct 4: Orion Township Public Library, 825 Joslyn Rd.
Precinct 5: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1950 S. Baldwin Rd.
Precinct 6: The River Church, 3920 S. Baldwin Rd.
Precinct 7: The DPW Garage, 2685 Joslyn Court.
Precinct 8: The Orion Center, 1335 Joslyn Rd.
Precinct 9: Lake Orion Baptist Church, 255 E. Scripps Rd.
Precinct 10: St. Mary’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, 2512 Joslyn Court
Precinct 11: The Orion Center, 1335 Joslyn Rd.
Precinct 12: Lake Orion United Methodist Church, 140 E. Flint St.
Precinct 13: Mount Zion Community House, 4005 S. Baldwin Rd.
Precinct 14: King of Kings Lutheran Church, 1715 S. Lapeer Rd.
Precinct 15: Orion Township Fire Station #2, 3801 Giddings Rd.

Orion Twp. Clerk’s Office offers voter registration, absentee ballot hours Nov. 5
Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults wants to make sure that any eligible voter in Orion Township (including the Village of Lake Orion) who has not registered to vote can do so in the Nov. 8 General Election, if they wish.
To help residents get registered to vote at the polls on election day – or to cast an absentee voter ballot – Shults’s office will hold special hours from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5 for voter registration and absentee voter ballots.
Any qualified elector of Orion Township, who is not already registered, may register to vote at the Orion Township Clerk’s office, the Oakland County Clerk’s office, a Secretary of State branch office or other designated state agency.
To register to vote in Orion Township, individuals must be 18 years of age and a resident of Orion Township.
Voters who are already registered may update their registration at www.michigan.gov/sos/elections, the clerk’s office said.
The Orion Township Clerk’s Office is open from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday.
On Election Day, the clerk’s office will be open from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
The Orion Township Municipal Complex is at 2323 Joslyn Rd. Contact the clerk’s office at 248-391-0304 with any questions. – J.N.