EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — East Grand Rapids, the hometown of 38th U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, recently notched another political milestone, when a woman who lives there became the state’s first-ever early voter to cast a ballot.
“She is actually one of our chairpeople,” said Lori Parmenter, the East Grand Rapids clerk. “She hadn’t voted yet, so we wanted to test the system to make sure that everything was working live as it was supposed to.”
According to Parmenter, it happened on October 28, shortly after they opened their early voting site in the city’s community center. She did not expect her election worker's ballot to make history.
READ MORE: November 2023 Election: What's on the ballot?
“We thought it was very cool we had the first, especially since we’re the only ones doing it [early voting] in Kent County, and there’s a lot bigger jurisdictions doing it,” said Parmenter.
A proposal passed during last year’s midterm election expanded voting rights and overhauled ballot access across Michigan, including requirement to provide between 9 and 29 days of early voting.
It begins with the 2024 presidential primary. However, rather than wait for a high-turnout race, cities and townships in 12 of the state’s counties decided to try out early voting for this November’s municipal election.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who visited East Grand Rapids on Thursday to mark the city’s milestone, describes the roll out in those communities as smooth and secure.
“It’s a lot of new technologies, and we have to be able to update everything in real time, so as soon as someone votes, it’s in the system, so that there’s no opportunity for them to request another ballot or go elsewhere and vote again,” said Benson. “It’s great to see that actually work. It actually populates the system in real time and ensures that one person, one vote security is a reality and that voters will also be able to trust that once they vote, they will be able to see their ballot counted.”
Benson says the data and feedback gathered on early voting now will help Michigan in the future.
Parmenter says people seem to like the option.
“We’ve had 111 voters since 8 o’clock Saturday morning,” said Parmenter. “The ones that have voted have been very grateful.”
No matter how it’s done though, she and Benson want them to make their voice heard.
“There are a lot of important local issues being decided from funding issues and millages for libraries and schools, to local candidates for city council and mayor,” said Benson.
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