WEST OLIVE, Mich. — The Ottawa County Clerk’s Office is making changes to how election results are reported.
Tuesday, Ottawa County Clerk and Register of Deeds Justin Roebuck announced two changes aimed at boosting the security of how election results are transmitted and displayed.
Previously, local clerks would electronically transmit unofficial vote totals to the county clerk on election night.
"Our biggest goal is to mitigate every risk that we possibly can and make sure that we are delivering our elections in the most secure way possible," Roebuck said.
Now, deputized staff will be retrieving the results directly from local clerks on election night. The sealed containers with the results will then be tracked in real-time by GPS as they are driven back to the Ottawa County Clerk’s Office. Once the clerk’s office receives the results, they will post them on the county’s website.
The Ottawa County clerk says the change from electronic to hand delivery of results will affect the speed that results are posted for the election next month, but says his team is deploying resources to minimize the impact.
The Ottawa County Clerk’s Office says it has also secured a “.gov” domain for elections.
Election results will now be reported on www.miOttawaVotes.gov.
"These process improvements are a major part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the security and integrity of our elections," said Roebuck. "I’m excited that we can roll out changes now to ensure that our team is prepared in advance of next year’s presidential election cycle."
