Lansing’s election center is operating from a new space at the former Reo Elementary School.
Up until last month, the election division was in the city’s South Washington office complex. But thanks to a voter approved millage in 2022, that building will be demolished for the city’s new public safety facility, which will house Lansing's police and fire departments as well as the 54-A District Court.
Election officials are storing ballot tabulator machines at the former school, as well as all of this year’s ballots.
“It's also where we get the absentee ballots ready to go in the mail, where we have the unvoted and the voted ballots,” Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope said. “It's really our election central.”
The city rents the space from the Lansing Public School District for about $5,000 per month, according to Swope.
“I don't expect it to be our long-term location and it's fairly convenient but it's really not on a main street, like our South Washington location was,” he said.
The new location will also serve as service center for voters to pick up their absentee ballots ahead of this year’s election. The location will be an early voting site for Michigan's presidential primary election from Feb. 17-25.
The Reo Elections Office is open during business hours. Starting next week, the center will be open until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.