Election Exodus: Where Traverse City Stands Amidst National Trend Of Quitting Election Officials

You hear it every election season: that getting out and casting your vote is perhaps the most important civic duty you are afforded as an American citizen. But what does that civic duty look like if the entire election infrastructure is hanging by a string? It’s a question experts are considering as the 2024 presidential election inches closer – and as the specter of the 2020 election continues to loom. Recent studies indicate that election workers are thinking about quitting en masse, which could leave the nation in a tight spot as it prepares to mount another presidential election – or even a midterm like the one coming this fall. The Ticker touched base with local election officials to take the temperature of Traverse City’s election ecosystem.

A study published in March by the Brennan Center for Justice surveyed nearly 600 local election workers across the country, spanning all political affiliations. One in five of those officials said they “are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat unlikely’ to continue serving through 2024,” with increasingly partisan friction around elections cited as the top reason. One in six respondents told the Brennan Center that they have received threats related to their election work, while three in every four said they felt that threats against local election officials have become more common in recent years. All told, 80 percent of survey participants expressed concern that threats and harassment against election officials “will make it harder to retain or recruit election workers going forward.”

The good news is that Traverse City isn’t seeing a mass exodus of election leaders – at least not yet. Both Grand Traverse County Clerk Bonnie Scheele and East Bay Charter Township Clerk Sue Courtade say they’ve heard of quite a few local clerks in other parts of Michigan quitting in the middle of their terms. But while those exits are a popular topic among Michigan clerks, they aren’t currently happening here.

“Luckily, we've only had one township clerk retire early in our county, and I don't think it was because of the election,” Scheele says.

Even if local clerks aren’t packing up their desks, though, they are aware of how their jobs have changed. Per the Brennan Center, two in every three local election officials “believe that false information is making their jobs more dangerous.”

“The misinformation from both sides of the political aisle, the various media personalities and channels, and social media all seem to have sparked an overall distrust and discord throughout the public,” Courtade says. “I am hopeful that continued efforts to educate the voters, political parties, political action groups, and the media will allow the public to see past the misconceptions. I’m sure it will take time, but I do hope it happens before more knowledgeable, educated, and experienced clerks leave their office.”

For his part, Benjamin Marentette, city clerk for the City of Traverse City, isn’t surprised the 2020 election proved controversial – and not just because of who the presidential candidates were.

“The November 2020 election was a challenge for so many reasons,” Marentette explains. “We were in the middle of a pandemic, and that added a tremendous amount of stress and pressure. It was also the first presidential election in Michigan where we had no-reason absentee voting. And those two things, together, caused a significant shift in the way we were conducting elections.”

Even amidst a contentious election cycle, Marentette says the vast majority of voters “were very respectful and appreciative and complimentary.” Still, he did notice a new strain of vitriol among a significant contingent of voters. “There were countless times, just in Traverse City alone, where folks were using foul language, threatening staff, all those sorts of things.”

Still, when asked whether he’s worried that the increasingly hostile atmosphere around elections will leave the city or other local jurisdictions shorthanded on future election days, Marentette sounds optimistic. In November 2020, the city only needed about 100 volunteers to work polling stations; Marentette wanted a list of at least 300 workers he could call in the event that illness or other situations left volunteers unable to serve. He was surprised and heartened by how easy it was to hit that number.

“We put out a fairly light call to the public for service, asking for people to step forward,” he says. “And frankly, we were literally and figuratively overwhelmed with the response. That’s fantastic, to know that there are that many people that are willing to step forward and make the process work.”

Therein may lie the best path forward for an election system plauged by accusations of fraud and foul play.

“I’d strongly encourage citizens to sign up to be a trained election Inspector in your community,” Courtade says. “This would allow one to see just how fair and accurate the election process is.”

Similarly, Marentette says he thinks everyone should work an election at least once in their life. “The more people that get to experience it can see for themselves – and share with their networks, their friends, their family, their neighbors – how the system works.”

Another factor that could help rehabilitate public confidence in elections? The Michigan Bureau of Elections recently allocated $8 million to help election clerks throughout the state upgrade their election security, and some of that money is bound for northern Michigan.

Marentette estimates that the City of Traverse City will receive up to $10,500 to purchase new cameras for polling places, “to demonstrate the chain of custody [of ballots] and show that the conduct of the election is proper at all times.”

In Easy Bay Township, Courtade says her team “has been reviewing ways to improve election security for awhile” and will likely direct state funding toward already-identified priorities like office security, a new ballot drop box, secure monitored storage, and more.

Scheele, finally, notes that the county recently upgraded its election night reporting software and will soon be “getting an upgrade to our election software for ballot coding” as well.