Saginaw Absentee Ballot Dropboxes Approved

Absentee voters in Saginaw will have new options when dropping off ballots this year.

With a $12,000 portion of the more than $400,000 grant the city received from the Center for Tech and Civic Life Planning; City council approved the purchase of three additional Absentee ballot collection boxes.

City clerk Janet Santos says the boxes will be placed in quadrants of the city calculated to provide the easiest access to absentee voters.

Councilwoman Jamie Forbes says the new locations will not only be a positive addition for the 2020 election cycle, but for the foreseeable future after agreements were made with owners of private property where some dropboxes are being added.

City council agreed on the need for the drop-off sites during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and Mayor Pro Tem Brenda Moore says while it’s not the easiest time to get out to vote won’t be easy it needs to be done.

They also approved the purchase of 80 table-top shields (worth nearly $6,400) to protect in-person voters, and 3 election-division printers (worth $3,200) for any additional absentee applications, voter registration cards, and poll book reports- required for precincts when returning their election results.

Dropboxes were approved to be implemented at:

–La Union Civica Mexicana, 2717 Wadsworth Rd.

–Wanigas Credit Union, 1837 Bagley St; but on the Roberts St. access

–Fordney Park’s Gratiot Ave. access

–Davenport Manor, 2811 Davenport Ave.

-Behind Saginaw City Hall, 1315 S. Washington Ave.