It’s the first presidential election since Michigan voters approved a 2018 proposal to vote by absentee ballot without stating a reason. Add in the coronavirus pandemic, and there’s been a huge increase in ballot requests, inundating clerk’s offices as they work long hours to keep up. A lot of their time is spent answering phone calls from voters wanting to know if their ballot has been sent or received by the clerk.
Part of the Citizen Design Interaction program, students worked with the Secretary of State’s office. As the team interviewed some of the 1,500 township and city clerks across Michigan, they kept hearing the resource challenges offices faced with extraordinarily high demand for mail-in ballots.
Using a process pioneered by Nick Sexton and Steve Gerhart from the city of Ann Arbor, the team worked with municipal IT departments to create and pilot an automated email notification system. As clerks update information in the statewide Qualified Voter File about ballot status, emails are automatically sent to voters in those cities and townships.
On Tuesday, October 6th, the University of Michigan Club of Greater Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the U-M DC office, hosted a virtual panel discussion about space policy.
Thomas H. Zurbuchen (right) presenting slides during his keynote address
The keynote address was followed by a panel discussion moderated by U-M’s Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Dean Jonathan Overpeck, and featured Dr. Zurbuchen, as well as Dean Alec Gallimore, U-M SEAS Professor and Dean Emerita Rosina Bierbaum, and Head of Airbus’s U.S. Space Systems and U-M alumna Debra Facktor. The panelists answered questions about the future of space missions, the current projects they are involved in, and how the path towards decreased carbon emissions may look. Panelists discussed the ways that research can be transferred into private sector innovation, and Debra Facktor mentioned the impact that reusable launch materials from companies like SpaceX could impact the future of the space industry.
In the lead up to the 2020 US Presidential Election and beyond, The University of Michigan Art Museum (UMMA) is handing over space and resources in the name of civic duty and engagement. Working closely with partners on several projects, UMMA is turning an art museum into an election hub.
Christina Olsen, Director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA)
“Art museums, and campus art museums especially, are uniquely positioned to drive national dialogue around the issues that matter most in the world today,” said UMMA Director Christina Olsen. “We’ve been working to make good on that potential all year and we are excited to work with these partners to offer our space to the city of Ann Arbor to transform the museum into a true election hub and powerful site for democracy.”
Most noticeably, this will take the form of converting the Museum’s street-facing glass-walled Stenn gallery into a satellite Ann Arbor City Clerk’s office. U-M Students, Faculty, and Staff will be able to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and vote early at UMMA every weekday between Sept. 24 and election day. The office also makes the work of administering the election and managing voter rolls and absentee ballots a publicly visible, transparent undertaking.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson visited the site on Tuesday, September 22nd.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
“City clerks are stepping up this year to develop important partnerships with community leaders and grassroots organizations all around the state to make voting accessible and secure, ensuring that every vote is counted and every voice is heard,” Benson said.
Satellite office hours
Sept. 22-Oct. 23: Weekdays 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (with voter registration only for the first two days until absentee voting begins Sept. 24)
