Voters are poised to head to the polls Aug, 7 to make their picks in partisan primaries and say ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ regarding local millage proposals.

But before they do, there are a few things to keep in mind.

First and foremost, Oxford Township Clerk Curtis Wright is reminding voters this is a primary election, so they can’t split their ticket like in a general election.

“If the ticket is split, the ballot will not count,” he said.

Voters can only pick candidates from a single party. The candidates selected on a ballot must be either all Republicans, all Democrats or all Libertarians. No mixing.

Ballots containing votes for candidates from more than one party will be considered invalid as far as the partisan races are concerned.

However, votes in nonpartisan areas, such as millage proposals, will still count, even on split-tickets.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

State law requires voters to bring some form of photo identification to show at the polls. This can be satisfied with a Michigan driver’s license or state-issued identification card.

“There’s other forms of identification as well, but those are the main two,” Wright said.

Voters who don’t possess either Michigan-issued card can present any of the following forms of photo ID as long as they’re current – driver’s license or personal ID card from another state; federal or state government-issued photo ID; U.S. passport; military ID with photo; student ID with photo from a high school or accredited institution of higher education; and tribal ID card with photo.

Voters lacking an acceptable picture ID or who forget to bring one to the polls can still vote and their ballot will be counted, but they must sign an affidavit stating they’re not in possession of a photo ID.

Folks who will be unable to visit the polls on Aug. 7 still have time to request and obtain an absent voter ballot at the Oxford Township Hall between now and Aug. 6.

“We’ve issued over 2,000 absentee ballots,” Wright said. “Probably over half of those (have been returned) by now. I’m sure by the time it’s all said and done, we’ll probably get over 90 percent of those back.”

Located at 300 Dunlap Rd., the hall is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Due to the upcoming election, it will also be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4. Absent voter ballots can be obtained that day.

Wright noted voters who request absentee ballots on Monday, Aug. 6 will not be allowed to remove them from the township hall. They must be filled out and turned in there.

“You can’t take it with you,” he said.

Voters in Oxford Township’s Precinct 6 will be casting their ballots in a new place.

Their polling place is now the community room located in Seymour Lake Township Park adjacent to the parks and recreation department’s administrative offices.

It’s no longer located at the Oxford Public Library.

Geographically, Precinct 6 encompasses the whole west side of the township, from Stanton Rd. to Davison Lake Rd. It’s bordered by Baldwin Rd. to the west and extends eastward as far as M-24, but then cuts back to the west to Dunlap Rd. and heads south.

A total of 2,121 of Oxford’s 15,810 voters reside in Precinct 6.