Absentee Voting for November 3
Drop Box, 270 River Ave., Across from Centennial Park
The November 3 general election is a short time away, and City of Holland residents can start casting ballots as early as today!
Steps to vote:
Step 1: Check your voter registration.
Make sure you’re registered to vote by entering your voter information here. All Michigan residents over the age of 18, who are U.S. citizens, who aren’t currently serving a sentence in jail or prison, and who will have maintained residence in the City for at least 30 days by Election Day are eligible to vote here. If you have a misdemeanor or felony conviction and have finished your sentence or are being held in jail awaiting trial, you are still eligible to vote.
If you’re not registered, register to vote online through Oct. 19 using your current Michigan driver’s license or state ID card.
Or go into the Clerk’s office at 270 River Ave. and register to vote any time through Election Day. Bring an official document that proves where you live, such as a:
Driver’s license or state ID
Current utility bill
Bank statement
Paycheck
Government document, including a government check
Step 2: Voting.
There are two main ways you can vote, either in Person or by Absentee. There are then two absentee voting options: voting by mail or voting absentee in person. To vote absentee in person, you can visit the City of Holland City Clerk at 270 River Ave. You can apply for an absentee ballot, fill it out and submit it all in one visit until 4 p.m. on Nov. 2.
If you’re registering for the first time, you can register and cast an in-person absentee ballot on Election Day, Nov. 3
To vote by mail, carry on with the steps below.
Step 3: Your Ballot.
Many Holland residents have chosen this past summer to have an Absentee ballot sent to them. If that’s you, simply wait until you’ve received yours. If you would like to vote by Absentee, but haven’t requested a ballot yet, you can file an absentee ballot application and send it to the City of Holland. To do this Apply online for an absentee ballot to be sent to you in the mail any time before 5 p.m. Oct. 30. You can also download an application, fill it out and return it to your clerk by email, mail, fax or in person. It is advisable however to make that request before Oct. 12. After that, go into your clerk and get a ballot in person just to be certain there will be time to fill it out and return it. It is illegal to apply for an absentee ballot in someone else’s name, so make sure you’re representing only yourself.
Step 4: Choose your candidates.
Once you receive your absentee ballot, read the instructions and fill it out as soon as you’re certain of who you’d like to elect.
Fill in the circle next to your preferred candidate’s name completely. If you made a mistake, you have the option to “spoil” your ballot and get a new one. If that happens to you, skip to the final section of spoiling you ballot.
In this election, you can split your ticket by voting for candidates from both political parties for different offices, or you can choose to vote “straight ticket,” which would select all partisan candidates from one political party. If you choose to vote straight ticket, don’t miss the nonpartisan candidates and local ballot questions that don’t fall under one political party.
Step 5: Sign your ballot envelope.
When you received your ballot, you should have gotten instructions, a secrecy sleeve and a second, larger envelope.
Put your ballot inside the secrecy sleeve. Then put that inside the larger envelope. Be sure to sign the outside of the envelope in the big box indicated for signatures.
Once your ballot reaches the clerk’s office, you can check whether your signature was accepted by entering your voter information here.
Step 6: Return your ballot to your clerk.
There are three options for getting your ballot back to your clerk:
Drop it in a ballot drop box
Mail it back
Take it to your clerk’s office
To drop your ballot in a drop box, visit City Hall at 270 River Ave. To mail back your ballot, affix the necessary amount of postage (two .55 cent stamps) to the outside envelope.
Please mail your ballot by Oct. 19, two weeks before the election, to account for any potential postal delays. Normally, ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day. However, currently, ballots that are postmarked by Nov. 2 will be counted as long as they reach clerks within two weeks after the election — though it’s still better to send your ballot as early as possible just in case.
If it’s getting close to Election Day and you want to be certain your ballot makes it in time, return your ballot by hand to the Clerk’s office at 270 River Ave. You can do this any time before 8 p.m. on Election Day.
To check whether the Clerk received your ballot.
You can check whether the Clerk received your voter application, whether they sent it, and whether they received it online here.
If you sent your ballot back to the Clerk and a week has passed and the clerk still hasn’t indicated they’ve received it, you may need to spoil your ballot and cast a new one (more on that below). Same goes for if you dropped your ballot in a drop box and it’s not updated within a couple days.
If it gets close to the election and that’s the case, call the Clerk’s Office at (616) 355-1301 to double check. If they didn’t receive it, ask them how you can spoil your ballot.
If you change your mind or made a mistake, spoil and recast your ballot.
If you made a mistake, changed your mind, or your ballot looks like it won’t reach your clerk in time, you may want to “spoil” your ballot and cast a new one. Spoiling a ballot is the same as canceling the old one.
Typically, you’ll need to write to the Clerk asking them to spoil the ballot, sign it and date it. You can often write a note, take a picture of it, and email it to your clerk instead. To be sure, call your clerk and ask what you need to do.
The clerk will then cancel your old ballot and send you a new one. If it’s close to Election Day, they may advise you to come in and vote in person.
If the canceled ballot reaches you or the clerk after you’ve spoiled it, it won’t count. Make sure you vote on the new ballot issued to you.
The latest you can spoil a ballot is 4 p.m. on Nov. 2, the day before the election. If you spoil your ballot at the last minute, ask your clerk what your options are to cast your vote.
2021 Proposed Budget
Riverview Park, Holland
The Public Hearing for the 2021 Ottawa County Budget has been set for Tuesday, September 8, to be held in the Ottawa County Board Room, 12220 Fillmore Street, West Olive, at 1:30p.m. You can review the budget here.
The 2021 Budget assumes a $4.62M (4.87%) increase in overall General Fund revenue for total revenues of $91.66M and a $4.18M (4.69%) increase in overall General Fund Expenditures for total expenditures of $92.95M. The Budget assumes a drawdown of $1.29M from Fund reserves.
The particular items that I am focused on are the following:
10102660 - Corporate Counsel
10102670 - Prosecuting Attorney
10102670 - Human Resources
10103250 - Central Dispatch
10101370 - Circuit Court Legal Self Help
10101490 - Circuit Court - Juvenile Service
10101720 - Administrator
10104490 - Road Commission
10107211 - Planning and Performance
10107212 - Ground Water Planning
10102230 - Strategic Initiative
10102990 - Public Defender’s office
If you have an item or issue that you would like clarification on or to spend some time on, please reach out to me at dzylstra@miottawa.org or 443-4281
Pre Paid Postage and Voting Equity
This November, it is calculated that approximately 80,000 Ottawa County residents could be voting by absentee ballot. Some of these will be longtime Absentee voters, some of them first timers. Some of them may live next to City Hall and will be able to utilize drop boxes located conveniently nearby, some will be living temporarily hundreds of miles from home.
To level the playing field, I believe that the County Board can and should take steps to make exercising the constitutional right to vote a little easier for everyone. But how?
Oakland County has made the decision to place pre-paid postage on all County residents’ return ballot. That is a very simple and reliable way to address the issue. However, because of our long term contract for ballot printing, such an action at this point would be cost prohibitive.
However, since the US Post Office is committed to make sure each ballot sent within the proper time frame arrives at the proper destination regardless of postage paid, I believe it would be possible to advertise this as a service available to out of area voters if the Board makes the commitment to reimburse local clerks who must pick up this expense directly from the US Post Office. I believe this is a workable solution to the issue and, while of course I don’t believe this step will close all voting inequities here, I do believe it will be a small but meaningful step towards that.
I realize that there is an element of uncomfortableness about an action like this on the Board, however if on the Board we only discuss and pursue policy that we’re comfortable with or that we have always done, we will never make inroads on our stated goals of increasing equity in our County and forging new possiblities for a diversifying County.
Absentee Voting August 4
Absentee Drop-off Box, City Hall, 270 River Ave.
This August 4, Holland voters will have the Holland Public School Operating Millage on their Ballot. For safety's sake make sure you are set up and vote Absentee Ballot. Note that all ballots must be received by 8:00 pm on Election Day.
For more information, call the City Clerk’s office at 355-1301 or Ottawa County at https://www.miottawa.org/Departments/CountyClerk/Elections/vote-by-mail.htm