Read Full Story on Michigan Impact: This is Michigan

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.

Read Full Story on Michigan Impact: This is Michigan

In the first two days, the satellite office has processed over 400 voter registrations.

Read article on Michigan Daily

Read more at UMMA Vote 2020

Read article on Click On Detroit

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)
• Oct. 24-Nov. 1: Weekdays 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturdays 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Nov. 2: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Nov. 3: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

Virtual Event
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Join leaders from Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, the three universities that make up Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC) on a virtual forum to hear how URC tech transfer responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, advances industries and drives our economy forward, even in uncertainty.

Partnering with the MSU Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and the U-M Wolverine Caucus, Michigan Entrepreneurs, Inventors and transfer leaders from the three universities will discuss:

• Emerging COVID-19 startups: who they are and how they help
• University Tech Transfer: What is it, and why you should care
• What’s happening nationally and how Michigan stacks up
• What Michigan needs to do to compete and keep innovation in our state

Click HERE to RSVP by Friday, September 25
Questions? Please contact Lynne Small (517) 999-4007

Speakers:
Peter Falzon, President and CEO, Ripple Science Corporation
Jack Lipton, Chair and Professor of MSU Department of Translational Neuroscience
Braden Robison, Chief Operations Officer, Seraph Biosciences, LLC
Joan Dunbar, Associate Vice President, Research, Wayne State University
Kelly Sexton, Associate Vice President for Research – Technology Transfer and Innovation Partnerships, University of Michigan
Rich Chylla, Executive Director, MSU Technologies

Moderator:
Britany Affolter-Caine, Executive Director, Michigan’s University Research Corridor