Local clerks remind voters to be on their best behavior on Election Day | News, Sports, Vacancies

By kind permission. Photo Alpena County Deputy Clerk Haley Birmingham stamps envelopes for voters who submitted ballots before Election Day. Clerks are asking people to follow state election law while waiting to vote.

ALPENA — Many people in northeast Michigan will be voting Tuesday, but local officials are reminding voters to follow election laws and be on their best behavior.

Michigan election law prohibits the publication, display or distribution of any material that directly or indirectly refers to an election, candidate or voting issue.

People should not wear hats or other clothing with the name of a specific candidate, or slogans or logos that identify those candidates.

Discussing candidates and how people will vote while in line or at the polling station is also discouraged.

Alpena Township Clerk Michelle Palevich said that during early voting, which ended Sunday, election workers and her staff had to politely ask some people to remove hats or other materials that expressed their support for a particular candidate.

According to her, in most cases voters gathered without problems, but a couple of times the requests of election officials were met with slight resistance and dissatisfaction.

“Most people treat them with respect, but these issues have become a bigger issue this year,” she said.

Michigan election law states that election clerks and inspectors must use their common sense in determining whether a slogan contains a direct or indirect reference to a candidate or issue on the ballot and whether it is a clearly identifiable campaign slogan.

Based on these considerations, the Election Commission determined that slogans such as “For the people” and “Fight for our rights” are general phrases that are not clearly identifiable campaign slogans and may be permitted, but slogans such as “Let’s make America Great Again, “When We Fight, We Win” and “We Won’t Go Back” are recognizable campaign slogans and may not be posted inside a polling place, in any hallway used by voters to enter or exit a polling place, or within 100 ft. entrance to the building where the polling station is located.

A person wearing or displaying such a slogan upon entering such places shall be instructed to cover or conceal such slogan before entering.

Many people in the area have already voted, but it’s likely that there will be lines of people waiting to vote on Election Day. Palevich said people should be patient while they wait, and election officials will do their best to get people in and out of polling places as efficiently as possible.

Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or [email protected]. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.

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