PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — If you’ve never seen your ballot before, voting can be an overwhelming and high-stress process.
FOX 17 wants to make sure every voter is prepared ahead of time, so we talked with Tina Porzondek, the manager of records and elections for Plainfield Township, about what voters can expect.
“There’s a lot of reading on that ballot. That ballot’s going to take a good ten-15 minutes to read through,” Porzondek explained. “You want to be familiar with it before you mark it.”
The first thing you’ll see on your ballot is the option to vote straight party.
“People ask if they vote straight party, but then they fill in a circle for maybe an opposite party or they voted straight party and still filled in all the circles anyway, does that invalidate the ballot? It absolute does not invalidate their ballot,” Porzondek said.
But voting straight party does not cover the nonpartisan races.
“The heading on the ballot will tell you which parts of the ballot are partisan and which parts of the ballot are nonpartisan,” Porzondek added.
You may have heard about the big statewide races and ballot proposals, but each precinct also may have different local races for school board or millages.
“Millage is a request for an increase in funding for whatever jurisdiction is asking for that millage,” Porzondek said.
When you show up to vote, bring a state or federally issued voter ID. High school or college photo ID’s also work, as well as tribal identification cards.
Porzondek said, most importantly, be prepared before you start filling out your ballot.
“You can preview your ballot ahead of time by going to the Michigan voter information center and put in your own precinct information. It’ll show you a map so that you know where you need to go to vote. I’ll also show your sample ballot.”
READ MORE: Election 2022: Everything you need to know before casting your vote
The midterm elections will take place on Tuesday, November 8. Polls are open in Michigan from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.