City launches get-out-the-vote campaign

Eastpointe city officials have launched a get- outthe-vote campaign to underscore the importance of residents having a voice in the upcoming election.

The city was awarded a $204,000 grant from Center for Tech and Civic Life to finance various methods of promoting the election through lightpost banners, T-shirts, a revised website, and a Selfie Station, where residents can post cellphone photos of themselves voting.

Eastpointe Deputy City Clerk Brian Fairbrother said it’s all part of the newEastpointe Votes campaign.

“The 2020 election obviously is an important election,” he said. “We think it’s a good idea for our residents to vote so we are using the grant money to help them be proud that they voted or plan to vote.”

According to its website, Center for Tech and Civic Life is a nonpartisan nonprofit that uses technology to improve the way local governments and communities interact by providing free and low-cost resources for local election officials.

Using grant funds, the city has placed a number of “Eastpointe Votes” banners on lightposts in front of City Hall on Gratiot Avenue, along with posts in the Downtown Development Authority section in the Nine Mile- Gratiot area.

The Selfie Station is a 6-foot-tall backdrop that can used for residents to take a selfie in front of to show they value the importance of voting, Fairbrother said.

“It’s a pretty cool way to get the word out about voting,” he said. “We have a lot going on in Eastpointe.”

The city has also created an Eastpoinevotes.com website with information on voting, ballot information, becoming an election worker and ranked choice voting.

Eastpointe last year became the first community in Michigan to implement what’s known as ranked-choice voting, where voters ranked all of the candidates based on their preferences

Under rankedchoice, voters were asked to rank candidates from their first preference to their fourth. After polls close, the first choices are counted first. The candidate with the fewest number is eliminated, leaving three.

Voters who selected that last-place candidate still have a voice because the second choice on their ballot will be counted. The shifting and counting continues until there are two winners with slightly more than 33.3%.

The ranked choice method applies solely to council races, not the mayoral election or other races on the ballot.

Three people are in the running to fill the remainder of MayorMonique Owens’ council term, which will end in November 2021. Rob Baker was appointed last December to fill a vacancy on the council created when Owens was elected mayor.

Baker is running against Tonia Gladney and Sylvia Moore for the seat.

Officials agreed to the ranked choice method to settle a lawsuit that was filed by the U. S. Justice Department. The government claimed white voters acting as a bloc had historically diluted the voting power of black residents in citywide council races.

Blacks are estimated to make up more than 40% of Eastpointe, population 32,000.