No longer will there be a general election in the Village of Lake Orion in March. No longer will there ever be a primary in February.
With the passage of a new Michigan election act, government bodies must now conduct elections in September or November.
September elections would take place in odd-numbered years, November elections in even-numbered years.
If the election takes place in September, the village clerk would take care of the voting process. If it’s in November, Orion Township would be responsible for the election.
The new election law indicates the township can charge the village for conducting the election.
Both LO Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel and LO Village Clerk Arlene Nichols recommended to the village council on Oct. 12 that the village elections be scheduled in September of odd-numbered years with staggered two and four year terms.
Council members will make a decision on an election time after a public hearing scheduled during the Nov. 8 council meeting.
According to Gary Dovre, the council must adopt an election date by the end of this year. He told council members, the law says if they pick November, it will always have to be in November.
If they adopt the September time, Dovre indicated, the council still has the option of changing to November if it wants to.
All of the terms of the current council members will be extended.
If September is chosen as the election month, council members Bill Siver, Tom Albert, Harry Stephen and John Ranville terms would expire in September 2005. Up for reelection in September 2007, would be Douglas Dendel, Bob Hollenbeck, Ken Van Portfliet and the fourth highest voter earner in the 2005 election.
If the decision is made to conduct the election in November, all council members? terms would expire in November 2006.
Dovre said the village doesn’t have to stay with the staggered two and four year terms. It could opt to have the entire council up for reelection every two to four years.
According to Dovre, the village’s charter would eventually have to be amended to accommodate the new election rules. And the council will need to address the timing of nominating petitions.