Area voters head to the polls Tuesday

No local ballot initiatives

Joining Idaho, Mississippi and Missouri, Michigan voters will cast their votes this coming Tuesday, March 10, for the presidential primary.
What is referred to as a closed primary, voters must declare which party’s primary election they wish to participate in before receiving a ballot. Each ballot only contains candidates from one party, no ballots contain candidates from both parties.
In addition to the upcoming presidential election, there will be a millage renewal proposal for the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) on the ballot, as well.
The DIA proposal would renew Oakland County’s current 0.2 mill (20 cents per $1,000 taxable value) on property located within the county for a 10-year period from 2022-2031. Oakland County voters initially approved this millage in 2012.
Resulting from the millage, the DIA provides Oakland County residents with field trips for kindergarten-twelfth grade students, senior citizen group programs and general admission at your convenience.
In Addison Township, voters in Precinct 3 also have a Macomb Intermediate School District Regional Enhancement Millage to decide. The district is asking voters to approve a “new additional” millage of 1.90 mils on taxable properties for a 10 year period. If passed, “funds to enhance other state and local funding for intermediate school district, school district or eligible public school academy operating purposes.”
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In Oakland County, voters can request a ballot featuring only the DIA proposal.
Part of the state’s efforts to increase voter turnout, Michigan modified their election law in 2018 to allow any eligible voter to request an absentee ballot. If you have not already done so, the form to request an absentee ballot can be accessed at Michigan.gov and must be received by your local clerk by 5 p.m. on March 8.
You can also request an absentee ballot in-person at the clerk’s office until 4 p.m. on March 9. Once received, you have until 8 p.m. on March 10 to return your absentee ballot, either via the mail or at the clerk’s office.
As a reminder, there will be some changes to the precinct locations, too. Voters in precinct 2 will now cast their ballots at the Oxford Village Community Room, located at 22 W. Burdick St. Precinct 7 voters are now using the Oxford Public Library, 530 Pontiac Rd. In the past, each of these precincts had used Oxford Elementary School as their polling location, but OCS requested not to be included this time around to keep all their elementary schools open.
These changes are set to impact over 4,800 registered voters. As of Dec. 2019, precinct 2 – which ranges from Davison Lake Rd. to the east side of Oxford Village – contained 2,273 voters. 2,541 voters make up precinct 7, which follows Dunlap Rd. north and stretches to the north boundary of Oxford Village.
Polling locations are open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. on March 10.

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