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Elections are costly, held too frequently and barely
draw voters.
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
W
hen the polls closed
promptly at 8 p.m. af-
ter a special election
last week, it took ex-
actly a minute for Novi Town-
ship to register its vote totals.
In the race for the 15th Dis-
trict state Senate seat, five bal-
lots were cast for the
Republican, Willis Bullard, and
five went to the Democrat, Bar-
ry Brickner. But with only 105
registered voters in the
Novi Township portion of
the 15th District,
turnout in the area —
9.6 percent — was ac-
tually better than in most.
Generally, cities and town-
-ships recorded voter partici-
pation somewhere between 4
and 6 percent of registered vot-
ers. West Bloomfield had the
highest participation in the June
4 election with 12.8 percent of
its eligible residents casting bal-
lots.
"Most people are not knowl-
edgeable about politics, partic-
ularly local politics, so they
choose not to participate," said
John Strate, an associate pro-
fessor of political science at
Wayne State University. "Peo-
ple don't vote because there are
too many elections, and partici-
pation falls off dramatically af-
ter the presidential elections."
Elections are expensive and
their frequency compounds the
cost. In West Bloomfield, the
current wave of elections began
in late March with the Republi-
can presidential primary and
SMART bus issue. Since then,
voters have been asked to return
to the polls three times: for the
15th District primary, 15th Dis-
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PHOTO BY DANIEL L IPPITT
g
trict general election and, last
Monday, to vote for the local
school boards and -Oakland
Community College board.
There is a two-month respite
before the August primary.
Marilyn Henry, an elections
specialist for West Bloomfield,
estimates the costs at $40,000-
$45,000 for each election day.
When the state foots the bill for
elections (any time the Legis-
lature calls for a state-wide
election), the tab for tax-
payers is $5 million.
Expenditures include
printing ballots, postage
for absentee ballots, oper-
ating polling places, paying
for election inspectors and the .
publication of election notices,
which are required by law.
Ms. Henry said she has never
figured out the costs per vote,
but in the recent race for the
15th District, 26 polling places
throughout West Bloomfield
logged between seven and 100
votes.
Many say the answer is an
election by mail. Before that can
happen, the state must devise a
comprehensive database of
Michigan's registered voters.
The state earmarked $7.5 mil-
lion to establish such a system
in place of each municipality
keeping track of voters. The sys-
tem, scheduled for operation by
Jan. 1, 1998, will allow the state
to consider conducting mail-in
elections.
Voter turnout, however, isn't
all doom and gloom. In the 1992
presidential election, 23.4 per-
cent of Oakland County voters
participated in the summer pri-
mary, but nearly 74 percent
10 MILE
A lone voter casts his ballot in West Bloomfield.