Bay City Election Commission adopts resolutions to delegate 2026 election duties, schedules public accuracy test

An unnamed presiding official (identified in the transcript as Speaker 1) told commissioners that the body approved a resolution listing routine election duties for the 2026 calendar year and authorizing staff to perform them without meeting before every task. "So what the first resolution does is it takes every ... the 2026 calendar here where it lists all the duties," Speaker 1 said, describing the change as a "pared down" approach based on state guidance and conference discussion.

The commission also moved to formalize its election-worker appointments in a single resolution rather than itemizing each appointment on meeting agendas, Speaker 1 said. The approach aims to balance workers by partisan representation and to allow staff to fill absences or make changes as needed. "The resolution ... it just kind of itemizes it out and makes it more formal," Speaker 1 said.

Speaker 2 made the motion to approve the delegation resolution, saying, "Motion to approve the resolution as printed." A second was recorded, and the commission proceeded. Earlier in the meeting, commissioners moved to approve minutes from 10/01/2024; two vocal "Aye" responses were recorded and the chair announced approval.

On election procedures, Speaker 1 said the public accuracy test is not a delegable item and must be published in the newspaper at least 48 hours beforehand. Because of a publishing error, the test was rescheduled to "Tuesday, the twentieth at 10" and members were invited to attend. Speaker 1 described the test process: running pre-marked ballots through the machines, checking the printer tapes and machine programming, and demonstrating the ADA touch-screen unit so commission members can confirm the programming and results.

The meeting closed after a motion to adjourn and a second. The transcript does not provide a calendar date for the meeting; speaker names were not given in the record, so attributions in this article follow the transcript labels (Speaker 1 and Speaker 2).