KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — Kalamazoo County has unveiled a new website meant to increase transparency in communicating election results.
For the first time, election results for each contest will include the total number of registered voters, poll book totals, turnout percentage and the number of votes cast by absentee ballot and at the polls on Election Day for each precinct.
Kalamazoo County Clerk and Register of Deeds Meredith Place announced the new website Monday.
“My goal when I ran for clerk in 2020 was to establish trust and public confidence in our election process by increasing transparency in election administration,” Place said. “If our system allows for more timely election results distribution and for more information to be reported, then we need to make it public for all.”
During the November 2020 election, unofficial results did not come until more than 24 hours after polls closed.
The county results website showed 100% of precincts reporting, but not all absentee ballots had been tabulated, giving members of the public a false view of who the winners and losers were, according to Place.
Starting with Tuesday’s special election, even if ballot tabulation may not be complete on election night, this new website will show the public exactly which precincts have been counted and those precincts that are still outstanding, including ballots cast at the polls on Election Day.
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