By Don Rush

Voters across the state turned out to vote on Nov. 8. According to the Oakland County Clerk’s unofficial results, 72 percent of the registered voters turned out in Addison Township; 64 percent in Oxford Township. The online reports showed 11,548 voters in Oxford turned out and 3,677 in Addison Township. Both Oxford Township and Addison Township clerks said the election went smoothly.

In Oxford, 5,026 Absent Voter Ballots were counted by around 9 p.m. on Election Night. In Addison, 1,565 Absent Voter Ballots were counted by about 8:30 that night

The results show local voters did not vote in lock step with the rest of the state in a number of contests. Across the state Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) defeated Tudor Dixon (R). Locally, in both Oxford and Addison Township voters preferred Dixon. In Oxford 6,046 voted for Dixon, 5,244 voted for Whitmer. Addison Township also favored Tudor over Whitmer, 2,354 to 1,252. It was the same story for the Secretary of State and Attorney General races. Oxford and Addison voters favored the Republican challengers in each race, though Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel both won at the state level.

On the state propositions, Oxford voters were in line with state voters – all three state propositions passed in Oxford. Addison voters favored Proposition 1, but mostly voted against Propositions 2 and 3.

According to Addison Township Clerk Pauline Bennett, with the passing of Prop 2, residents will be able to vote in person up to nine days prior to the election. “I am already planning for this,” she said. “There could possibly be an increase to our election budget for staffing and additional  equipment. The difference with prop 2 , or early voting, is voters are allowed to insert their ballot into the scanner/counter just like you would on Election Day. When the requirements  are issued from the County Elections Division and State Bureau of Elections, I will adapt accordingly.”

Oxford Township Clerk Curtis Wright shared his thoughts on Prop. 2, also. “I will need to dissect the technical language that will be inserted into the Michigan Constitution and interpret how these changes need to be implemented at the local level for compliance,” he said. “There is time for adjustment considering the next potential scheduled election is the Presidential Primary Election in early 2024. Funding and staffing will, more than likely, need to be increased to conduct future elections.”

Even though the Oakland County Transit proposal passed at the county level, locally voters in both townships were largely against it. In Oxford, 5,950 voted against the proposal; 4,976 voted in favor. In Addison, 2,110 voted against, 1,381 voted for the proposal.

Oakland County Commissioner Michael Spisz (R-Oxford) defeated challenger Justin Willcock (D-Oxford) for the newly formed 5^th District, 19,395 votes to 12,880.

Voters in Oxford, Addison, Brandon and Oakland townships favored Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) over Emily Busch (D-Oxford), 16,748 to 10,435, for the newly formed 66^th Michigan State House of Representative district.

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According to the County’s unofficial results there were 26,323 votes cast for candidates for the Oxford school board. The top four vote-getters were Amanda McDonough (4,711 votes), Mary Hanser (4,113), Michael Whitney (4,108) and James Sommers (3,738). Bryan Eftink received 2,559 votes, Charlie Hanks (2,497), George Stoffan (1,448) and Unassigned Write-Ins received 3,149 votes.

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In Leonard, voters cast ballots for Jennifer Swack (153) and John Hawkins (138) to serve on the village council. A proposal that would require the village to initiate an ordinance to allow an adult-use recreational marijuana establishment was defeated, 161 to 60.

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In Oxford Village, council members Kelsey Cook (733 votes), Maureen Helmuth (631) and Allison Kemp (736) ran unopposed.

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Addison Township trustee Mary A. Frost ran unopposed (2,614 votes); Oxford Township trustee Catherine Colvin also ran unopposed (7,272).