Marquette City Clerk Kyle Whitney sorts through ballots as his office prepares for an influx of absentee voting this year. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

MARQUETTE — Mail-in voting is more significant than ever this year due to COVID-19.

For citizens uncomfortable heading to the polls in November, sending their ballots by mail is an alternative method that municipalities deem safe and legitimate, but that legitimacy has also been something questioned by many due to the potential for voter fraud or a ballot getting lost in transit on its way to the clerk’s office.

A city of Marquette resident was excited to receive their ballot in the mail recently, but that excitement quickly turned into confusion when the person stumbled upon two differing sets of voting instructions in the envelope.

One instruction sheet explained the method for straight-ticket voting, while the other read what to do if you want to vote split-ticket.

Michigan law states that you cannot split your ticket in a primary election, and voters must confine their votes to a single-party column. In the general election, however, voters are able to split their tickets, meaning citizens can vote for individual candidates of their choice under any party if they choose.

City Clerk Kyle Whitney says there’s no need to be alarmed if residents receive their ballots with two sets of instructions. Whitney said when city staff were clearing out the secrecy sleeves after the primary, straight-ticket instructions may have been left in some of them by mistake.

Whitney referred to the ballots with two sets of instructions as “golden tickets,” and said he believes the number of ballots sent out with two sets are minimal.

“Basically, we put in the ballot envelopes a set of instructions on how to vote. They are state-issued instructions,” he said. “There should be a green set of instructions that says ‘general election’ instructions, and it tells you how to vote straight-ticket, it tells you what the partisan and non-partisan sections are, it tells you to check both sides of the ballot and then how to return your ballot.

“If by happenstance somebody were to get two sets of instructions, one from August, first it would say ‘primary instructions,’ instructions for the August election. What those instructions warn against is on a primary ballot in Michigan, there’s a column for each party and you can only vote in one column in the primary. On the general election ballot, there are no columns, they’re all just individual races.”

Another important piece of information Whitney wants residents to know is that ballots are pre-posted and do not require a stamp to send back. For those skeptical about mail-in voting, 24/7 drop boxes are also available at Marquette City Hall on Baraga Avenue and the city’s Municipal Service Center on Wright Street. Both are secure and monitored by video surveillance.

The city is also setting up a satellite clerk’s office at the Northern Center on the campus of Northern Michigan University, which is slated to open Monday.

This office will be available to residents who are looking to register to vote, request an absentee ballot or return applications and ballots. No appointment to visit the office is necessary.

The city doesn’t have specific hours for the office just yet because it will be staffed by NMU students working part-time and is dependent on their schedules. Whitney says the city will follow up when office hours are determined.

In-person polling locations will still be available Nov. 3 as well, with the city preparing to operate its polling centers in a safe and socially distant manner.

For more information and resources on the city of Marquette’s election procedures, visit www.marquettemi.gov or contact the city clerk’s office at 906-228-0430 or clerk@marquettemi.gov.