The Pontiac Election Commission on Oct. 3 authorized the creation of mini absentee voter counting boards 1 and 2 to handle absentee ballots that Oakland County will not count, voting 3-0.

The action matters because Oakland County will not count absentee ballots received after 4 p.m. on the Monday before the election (Nov. 3) or any ballots received on election day, Nov. 4; the commission cited a recent law change allowing local jurisdictions to establish mini absentee counting boards to process those ballots. "The county does not count any ballots that we receive after 4PM, the Monday before the election, which will be November 3, or any that we receive actually on election day, November 4. So we have to count those ballots ourselves," the chair said during the meeting.

At the Oct. 3 meeting, the commission moved through routine business before the vote: excusing two members, approving the agenda and approving minutes from the Sept. 19 meeting. The commission then voted to establish the two mini absentee counting boards for the November election; the roll call recorded three yea votes and no nays. The meeting record indicates the members voting in favor were Prater, Estimer and Doyle.

The commission approved excusing members Harris Ford and Altman earlier in the meeting. No members of the public spoke during the public-comment portion. The meeting was called to order at 9:03 a.m. and adjourned at 9:06 a.m.

The commission did not provide further procedural details at the meeting about staffing, exact locations for the mini boards or timelines beyond the county cutoff and election-day dates; those specifics were not specified.