By Jessica mathews/News@whmi.com


A local lawmaker is calling for the postponement of May elections.

Republican State Representative Ann Bollin of Brighton Township urged residents to follow the stay-at-home order issued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and said it’s time for the state to consider postponing the May elections to protect voters from COVID-19. The order will last for at least the next three weeks. Bollin called on Governor Whitmer to postpone the upcoming May election until August. She recently sent a letter to the governor urging the change and promising to work on legislative solutions to help school districts and communities who might have been counting on collecting monies from the proposed bond or millage questions on the July 1st tax bills. Bollin says holding the election in May presents a serious health and safety risk to the public, local clerks and election workers across the state as cases of COVID-19 are increasing exponentially. She added we’re facing many other unknown factors and must take every precaution necessary.

Bollin noted that election preparation begins long before Election Day and elections should be postponed before monies are spent unnecessarily. She says many of the dates on the May election calendar are dictated by law and are already coming into play. As a former clerk, Bollin said she is intimately familiar with what goes into prepping for an election and the confines of the election calendar. She says that coupled with COVID-19 is presenting serious challenges for clerks.