The election process barely skipped a beat during a brief power outage in precincts 8 and 9 last Tuesday.
That’s the word from Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults, who said efforts made by a number of individuals kept everything rolling along smoothly.
“It was pretty exciting to see everyone pull together to make sure the election went well,” said Shults, noting generators and lights were delivered quickly by the township fire department, parks and rec staff – even the friend of an election inspector.
Across 14 precincts, Orion Township saw 28.6 percent of its 24,672 registered voters turn out to vote.
Of those, 5,531 nodded toward Republican candidates and 1,305 deferred to the Democrats. Another 221 voted only on nonpartisan issues, and 143 ballots were deemed invalid for crossed parties.
“In those cases, the voters were aware there was a problem before they left the precinct,” Shults said. “In each case, they chose to leave their ballot as it was, and those ballots were still valid for any non-partisan voting.”
In local races, Orion Township resident Jim Marleau came out on top among six candidates vying to represent the GOP in a bid for State Senate, 12th District in the November election.
Marleau, a third-term state representative, earned 31.94 percent of the vote amongst 33,430 ballots cast.
Kim Russell took 24.48 percent of votes in that race while Copper Rizzo received 22.83 percent.
Marleau, who won every precinct in Orion, will square off against Democrat Casandra Ulbrich in November.
Oxford resident and 1st District County Commissioner Brad Jacobsen won the GOP nod for State Rep, 46th District, earning 52.40 percent of votes cast over 12,577 ballots. Daniel Myslakowski received 30.10 percent of voter nods in that race.
With the exception of precincts 5 and 7, which were taken by Myslakowski, Jacobsen won all precincts in Orion and will face off against Democrat David Lillis in November.
Lillis was unopposed in the primary.
Running unopposed on the Republican side of the ballot, incumbent 3rd District County Commissioner Michael J. Gingell took 99.45 percent of 7,082 ballots cast, while write-ins accounted for the other .55 percent – or 39 ballots.
Countywide, the Oakland County Parks millage renewal earned a ‘yes’ vote from 76.46 percent of voters.
Of 6774 Orionites who voted on the parks proposal, a slightly lower percentage – 74.43 percent – said yes.
With the Aug. 3 primary election behind her, Shults said she and her staff have their eye on the November General Election.
“Everyone – all my staff, all our election workers – are dedicated to the process and want to do an outstanding job for the community,” Shults said. “We didn’t have the problems other communities had. It’s phenomenal the way everyone works so well together.”