Caption: Janice M. Winfrey during Inaugural State of Elections Address Tuesday Afternoon
City Clerk Janice M. Winfrey captivated city officials, community leaders, and citizens alike at the inaugural State of Elections Address, unveiling innovative strategies for the 2024 elections and emphasizing the community’s essential role in delivering a seamless and accurate voting experience.
“When everyone does their part, from the poll worker to the polling location, to law enforcement to challengers to the candidate to the voter, we have a greater chance of realizing what Democracy means,” Winfrey said.
The introduction of in-person early voting and advanced absentee ballot pre-processing, in line with the recent modifications in state elections law, was also highlighted, further emphasizing the community’s integral part in these new initiatives.
“Since 2012, voters have been voting by absentee ballot and personnel, and 14 satellites have been conveniently located throughout the city. These satellites (locations) have now been converted into early vote centers. During the (2020) presidential election, more than 2000 of our voters successfully cast their ballots and one of our EVCs (Early Voting Center),” Winfrey said.
When Winfrey took office in 2006, she contacted Wayne County Community College, and they allowed her office to train all city of Detroit poll workers on their campuses throughout the city. She recruited workers with professional backgrounds. Soon, she launched the ‘Democracy in the D’ campaign to recruit interested individuals from the Big Three automakers, the Divine Nine, Wayne County Community College, Detroit Public Schools, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Henry Ford Hospital to assist with the election.
“We wanted those professionals to work with us because we knew they would be easy to train. We knew they were at home working from home, so they may be willing to come in and work with us. They did, and the result was an amazing election that we administered that year,” Winfrey said.
The ballot-counting center in Detroit was thrown into chaos in 2020, with disruptions impacting the usually organized election operations. Despite the challenges and commotion, the election operations in the city remained unaffected and continued to function smoothly.
“During the 2020 presidential election, distractors banged on the window for TCF and chanted, “Stop the vote, stop the vote.” Challenger election observers appeared to run amok. Since then, major changes have been made to improve the efficiency and security of that operation,” Winfrey said.
In her speech, Winfrey discussed the details of the new election law and recent legislative changes, highlighting their potential impact. Under the latest changes, all observers and media members who want to participate in precinct operations must log in and sign an affidavit to ensure transparency and efficiency. This affidavit confirms their commitment to following Michigan election law. These steps are part of an ongoing effort to improve the accuracy, transparency, and overall effectiveness of precinct operations.
“Elections do not belong to the Department of Elections or the Clerk’s office; they belong to all of us,” Winfrey said.
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