Tagged: election 2011

Voters in Detroit have capped a two-year process by approving a new city charter.

Detroiters voted to open the charter up for an overhaul in 2009, amidst questions about whether the current city charter enabled corruption.

An elected charter commission spent two years putting together the proposal. It faced stiff resistance from some prominent Detroit figures, including several Detroit City Council members.

But in the end, the new charter passed overwhelmingly, with about 58% of the vote.

Republicans and Democrats in Lansing are closely following a recall election in Genesee County. The target of the recall is the Republican chairman of the state House Education Committee, Representative Paul Scott.

The Michigan Education Association made Representative Scott the target of the recall effort. The union partially blames him for budget cuts to K-12 schools and tenure law revisions that make it easier to fire teachers. The recall petition also cites Scott’s vote in favor of the state tax overhaul that includes extending the Michigan income tax to seniors’ pensions.

At least $225,000 has been spent on both sides of the recall campaign. The effort has also sparked retaliation by the Michigan Republican Party against Democratic lawmakers across the state.

There are currently 32 more recall petitions circulating that target both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. If they’re successful, those recall questions would appear on the February 2012 ballot.

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Some Pontiac elections workers didn't show up to the polls following the recent firing of the city's clerk by a state-appointed emergency financial manager.

The Oakland Press, the Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News and WWJ-AM report voting took place as scheduled Tuesday. Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard says other workers have been brought in and precincts consolidated after some workers didn't show up as expected.

Oakland County's elections director and a representative from the secretary of state were on hand to assist. Voters in Pontiac were choosing Democratic and Republican nominees for the state House's 29th District and making school board picks.

Lou Schimmel last month fired Yvette Talley as well as the city's attorney and director of public works in what he called a realignment of City Hall.

Update 9:16 a.m.

Our Facebook users are not having much luck with this resource. Some are seeing their ballot, while others are not. This message appears when searching on Publius:

Due to limited resources in 2011, only some jurisdictions have interactive sample ballot information. All polling locations are current. We hope to have everything back where it should be in 2012.

Monday, November 7, 5:14 p.m.

Election Day is tomorrow.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m in Michigan.

It's an easy-to-miss election because there are not a lot of high profile campaigns going on, but there are likely some important local issues in your area.

Here's a resource that might help with your election research:

Publius - find out what's on your ballot

Publius is a great resource.

Enter your name and city and up pops your polling location and it shows you what exactly will be on your ballot.

A good place to start. If the issues don't look familiar, more research is warranted.