With the Nov. 4 general election looming on the horizon, constituents across Ottawa County are getting ready to select local leaders. There are a variety of proposals on the ballot for voters to consider, and a number of mayoral and city council positions on the line.
There are races for mayoral and city council seats in Coopersville, Ferrysburg, Grand Haven, Holland and Zeeland, as well as Hudsonville City Commission. There are also numerous millage and school bond proposals up for consideration.
Local off-year elections fail to garner as much attention as midterms and presidential races, but for Ottawa County Clerk and Chief Election Officer Justin Roebuck, this election is significant regardless.
“These off-year ones are critical in a lot of ways,” Roebuck said. “We have cities across Ottawa County electing their leadership, like city councils and mayors. Those are significant leadership roles in communities. The tax questions on the ballot are important, too.”
While Roebuck acknowledged nationwide races can be more interesting than county elections, he questioned the logic behind that perspective.
“We have significantly lower turnout in these types of elections, but this is actually the one where the voters are deciding issues closest to home,” Roebuck said. “It is important in general for how communities are run.”
This type of election finds itself conducive to budget proposals and tax adjustments with certain projects in mind. According Roebuck, this year specifically is no exception.
“The cities of Holland and Grand Haven have tax proposals (on the ballot),” Roebuck said. “Grand Haven is asking voters to levy a tax specific to public safety, whereas typically that comes out of the city’s budget. They are looking to increase the funding for police and fire services, and raise about $2 million dollars per year for 10 years.”
Holland is in a similar boat as far as tax revenue is concerned, and is looking for more.
“Holland is asking to increase the rate of taxes,” Roebuck said. “They are trying to override the current tap on the city on how much they can tax their residents.”
Most cities in Ottawa County are looking for ways to gain more funding in the wake of the federal government shutdown. Roebuck says this has created issues for support and services which previously flowed down from the federal to state and local governments.
“We have seen constraints on our city and townships’ budgets,” Roebuck said. “Cities are trying to think outside of the box for ways to pay for services.”
Elections themselves could be impacted by the shutdown. As elections are typically funded by the federal government, potential issues with software and cybersecurity have been raised, causing election officials a bit of concern.
“There have been changes in how the federal government is supporting local elections,” Roebuck said. “There is a division of the Department of Homeland Security, called ISAC, the Information Sharing Analysis Center, which helps to prevent and detect cyber threats specifically for local governments who have responsibility in the election space.”
There was a cybersecurity and fraud detection program previously offered by ISAC, funded by the federal government. However, funding for the program was cut this March, and it was transitioned into a paid service. Yet, many counties have opted not to buy the service for this year’s elections, opening up the possibility of voter fraud.
Luckily, Ottawa County shouldn’t be one of the counties to suffer setbacks from losing cyber security support.
“The federal government has designated elections as necessary infrastructure,” Roebuck said. “Our IT department at Ottawa County is still getting these services and support. Through our IT contracts with various entities, we are still getting the cyber-threat detection and prevention services.”
The complete lists of candidates and proposals, alongside polling locations and absentee ballot information, can be found at miottawa.org.
