By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Nov. 4 registered voters will have the opportunity to vote for federal, state, county, judicial and local candidates, along with state and local proposals, in the 2014 General Election.
All regular precincts will be open, Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults said, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, however absentee ballot voting is also available.
The Orion Township clerk’s office will be open this Saturday, Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. for absentee ballot voting only, the last day absentee ballots can be mailed.
Registered voters may also vote absentee in the clerk’s office on Monday, Nov. 3 until 4 p.m.
The clerk’s office has mailed out about 3,000 absentee voter ballots so far, Shults said, with half of them returned to date.
Because Orion Township has added additional table-top voting booths to their 14 precincts Shults expects the lines to move smoothly and efficiently throughout the day.
‘We should have a higher voter turnout than we did Aug. 4 for the primary election, but we are prepared for a 100 percent (turnout),? Shults said.
Of the total amount of registered voters in Michigan, 7,431,684, a possible 938,959 voters of Oakland County could make it to the polls. 193,014 ballots were cast for the Aug. 5 Primary Election, about a 20 percent voter turnout.
Voters must remember to bring a valid form of identification, such as a state issued I.D., a driver’s license or a passport, for example.
For voter guides of state and local candidates and proposals, go to www.oriontownship.org or to review sample ballots go to www.Michigan.gov/vote.
Shults recommends viewing the 2014 General Election League of Women voter guides for a list of each local candidate accompanied by a brief biography of their intentions. Visit the website www.lwvoa.org for online candidate and proposal information.
Call the Orion Township clerk’s office at (248) 391-0304 ext. 1 to view a copy of a sample ballot and other election’s questions, or visit the office between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 2525 Joslyn Rd.
State and local candidates
The two-sided ballot is divided into three sections: partisan, nonpartisan and proposals.
Voters will elect three state officials, including the governor, secretary of state and attorney general. Voters will also vote for one United States senator, and one 8th District Representative in Congress.
Where the ballot hits a little closer to home for Orion Township and Lake Orion residents is electing the 12th District State senator between Orion resident and incumbent candidate Jim Marleau, Republican, and Democratic candidate Paul Secrest of Bloomfield Township.
Orion residents will also take special interest to candidates for the 46th District State Representative position. Lake Orion resident and incumbent Republican candidate Bradford C. Jacobsen will defend his seat against Lake Orion Democrat David Jay Lillis.
Jacbosen is a part owner of the local flower shop, Jacobsen’s Flowers, on M-24.
For the State Board of Education, voters will select two candidates, along with other university delegates and trustees.
At the county level voters will select the 1st District County Commissioner, either Republican Michael Gingell or Democrat challenger, Torri Mathes.
As for the nonpartisan section, voters will elect three justices of Supreme Court, two judges for the Court of Appeals, ten Circuit Court judges, one 52/3 District Court Judge, and two board of trustees for Oakland Community College.
Voters also have a few local municipal and school board positions to fill.
While there are no current openings on the Orion Township Board of Trustees, voters will elect five Village of Lake Orion councilmen and three Lake Orion Community Schools school board members.
Currently six candidates are vying for the five council positions, including incumbents Douglass Hobbs, John Ranville, and Shauna Brown along with candidates Christian Mills and Kevin Mlynarek. Bradley Mathisen, who was appointed to the council Oct. 2013, is running unopposed for a partial term, which will expire in Nov. 2016.
The three Lake Orion school board candidates are all running unopposed.
Voters will find Treasurer Jim Weidman, Trustee Steven Drakos and Trustee Scott Taylor on the ballot for re-election. Weidman and Drakos are running for the two full-term positions while Taylor is running for the partial term position to end in Dec. 2016.
Proposals
Lake Orion Schools is seeking approval for one of the two local proposals.
Voters will be asked to pass the 20.25 mill Operating Millage Renewal Proposal, which will be placed on all non-homestead property including commercial and industrial properties and some agricultural properties, and second homes.
Primary residences would be exempt from the ten-year tax beginning July 1, 2015.
If approved and levied, this millage would garner about $7.2 million annually for operating purposes.
The non-homestead operational millage provides about 75 percent of state funding to Lake Orion, and if not passed would devastate the annual operational budget.
The other local proposal on the ballot is the Orion Township Proposed Additional Fire Capital and Equipment Millage requesting a total of .6 mills for five years beginning Dec. 2014.
The .6 mill would cost a homeowner $90 per year for a house worth $150,000 in taxable value, or $300,000 altogether.
The proposed millage for Nov. 4 is a 40 percent cost reduction from the initial defeated proposal on the Primary Election ballot Aug. 5, and would raise approximately $4.1 million to be spent on updating and purchasing new equipment.
Funds would be used to finish construction of Station #2 currently underway, purchase an aerial platform fire truck, replace vehicles, purchase an ambulance, and, most important to Fire Chief Bob Smith, purchase new turn-out gear for his fire fighters, among buying other much needed emergency equipment.
The two state proposals on the ballot’Proposal 14-1 and Proposal 14-2’are concerned with establishing and authorizing annual wolf hunting seasons.
For more information on the Orion Township General Election ballot, visit www.votemighigan.gov.