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The Hastings Banner — Thursday, February 8, 2024 — Page 3

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B2 Outlet Stores had recently made

significant strides in growth in Barry

County. Not only did it open the B

Bargain Bins store in Middleville in

August but in November of last year,

the B2 Outlet Store moved into a much

more spacious storefront at the Hast-

ings strip mall where it already main-

tained a store.

The company held a ceremonial ribbon

cutting that month, welcoming lines of

shoppers to explore the new 20,000-foot

storefront. Its previous store measured

only 3,500 square feet.

B2 Outlet Stores built their business

off of selling liquidated items at signifi-

cant discounts, a format that was no

doubt seismically shaken by the supply

chain issues that accompanied the

COVID-19 pandemic.

The company would use the liquidat-

ed merchandise to offer shoppers dis-

counts and also donate a portion of its

revenue to charity.

The groundwork was set in place by

the father-son duo in 2014 when it formed

Benefit Twice Outlet Stores, which even-

tually became B2 Outlet Stores. The

brand scaled up significantly but that

growth was noticeably stifled post-pan-

demic.

Nichole Lyke, economic development

director for the Barry County Chamber of

Commerce and Economic Development,

pointed to the fact that the Hastings loca-

tion of the B2 Outlet Store had performed

well, even throughout the periods of

uncertainty. A similar dynamic played

out when one of the few remaining

Kmart stores remained open in Hastings,

showing a need and demand for access to

discounted products.

Fresh off the closure of the B2 Outlet

Store, Lyke said that the chamber would

be available to help the commercial

property developer in any way possible,

such as helping to market the available

storefront space and court businesses to

come to the Hastings community.

It’s a community that she said has

proven to be friendly to both large corpo-

rations and mom-and-pop shops.

“The business community here is very

welcoming,” Lyke said. “As far as red

tape and general opposition to certain

types of businesses, there really is less of

that here, which is good for small busi-

nesses. Some of those barriers are easily

navigable for large corporations, but for

individual entrepreneurs or small mom-

and-pop shops, that can be difficult and

can increase your costs.”

“We got feedback from several busi-

nesses that it’s been easy to come here

and set up shop for their smaller busi-

nesses,” Lyke added.

Nearly 1.3 million Michigan voters

have applied for absentee ballots

three weeks before election day

There are three weeks left until election

day in Michigan’s presidential primary and

nearly 1.3 million voters have requested

absentee ballots for the primary, an 80 per-

cent increase over the same point before the

2020 presidential primary.

Starting this year, voters have new options

for casting their ballots safely and securely:

Absentee voting is underway; in-person early

voting begins statewide on Saturday, Feb. 17;

and election day is Tuesday, Feb. 27.

“I’m thrilled to see so many Michiganders

engaged and energized about this month’s

presidential primary,” Secretary of State Joc-

elyn Benson said in a statement. “Whether

you choose to vote early – from home or at an

early voting location – or in person on elec-

tion day, clerks across the state are ready to

ensure you are able to cast your ballot safely

and securely.”

Absent voter ballot request data shows that

1,287,265 Michiganders have requested an

absentee ballot as of Feb. 6. As a comparison,

713,465 Michiganders had requested absen-

tee ballots three weeks before the 2020 pres-

idential primary. 1,083,863 ballots have been

sent to voters by clerks so far this year and

391,404 voters have completed their ballots

and returned them to be counted. A break-

down by jurisdiction is available online.

In 2022, Michigan voters passed Proposal

2, which created a permanent mail ballot list.

Voters can choose to automatically receive an

absentee ballot and vote from home for every

election.

Eligible Michigan residents can register by

mail or online to vote through Feb. 12 or at

their local clerk’s office through 8 p.m. on

election day. Under Michigan law, voters can

cast a ballot for only one party’s candidates

during the presidential primary and must

select either a Democratic or Republican bal-

lot before casting their vote. However, if the

voter does not wish to participate in the pres-

idential selection, and their jurisdiction has

local contests to be decided, they can request

a local-only ballot instead.

Michigan does not register voters by party

• every voter is free to select a ballot from
  one of the two parties. Third-party or minor
  party presidential candidates are selected by a
  different process under Michigan law.
  Voters can track their absentee application
  or ballot online at Michigan.gov/Vote or by
  contacting their local election clerk. Absentee
  ballots have prepaid postage and can be
  returned by U.S. mail. Voters who still need
  to return their completed ballot can drop it off

at their clerk’s office or designated secure

ballot drop box to avoid postal delays.

Michigan.gov/Vote provides important

election information, including a sample bal-

lot and how to contact a local clerk.

Funding and logistics for election

changes coming into focus

Jayson Bussa

Editor

When major changes to state and federal

election processes were approved by Michi-

gan voters and handed down by state law-

makers, fears of an unfunded mandate and

confusion over the format changes crept in.

Now, with just over a week left before the

first round of early voting takes place, those

fears are beginning to dissipate.

Barry County Clerk Cindy White, who

raved about the hard-working township clerks

around the county, said she is looking for-

ward to putting into motion the plans that

election officials have been putting together

for months.

On Feb. 17, the nine-day early voting peri-

od for the Feb. 27 presidential primary elec-

tion will kick off.

“I’m kind of excited to see it all come

together,” White said.

Still, it took a while for many to muster

that sort of enthusiasm. As late as just a few

months ago, significant questions persisted.

Then-Barry County Clerk Pam Palmer, fol-

lowed by White, who took over, had few

answers.

One major question on the minds of county

residents was who would be funding the pur-

chase of new equipment required for each

early voting location. Barry County has a

total of 10 of them.

White said that, while she was a little ner-

vous about the technology arriving by the

deadline, all of the necessary components

have come in and the equipment was covered

through grants from the state.

“It was just a matter of everything coming

together,” White said. “It cut the deadline

close but they all were here. Everything is

here. I feel for all the vendors trying to get

(equipment) out to 83 counties once they

finally got the word from the state.”

That’s not to say that townships and the

county will not absorb any additional costs.

While townships were able to sidestep the

tens of thousands of dollars that would be

required to purchase the equipment, they’ll

still need to buy supplies, like the properly

weighted paper for on-demand ballot printing.

Staffing expenses were also a major con-

cern, as each polling location is required to

staff a minimum of three election inspectors

for eight hours each day in the nine days lead-

ing up to the election.

White said that the state will be assisting

with those expenses as well, refunding the

county and townships up to $19 per hour.

Most election workers in townships around

Barry County make more than that, though,

leaving a tab for the cost overruns.

While working to over-communicate the

logistical specifics of state and federal elec-

tions, White said there is bound to be some

confusion.

During the nine-day early voting period,

there will be 10 early voting locations –

some townships opted to consolidate their

early voting together. But, on election day,

all voting is conducted at each individual

township.

Similarly, if an individual wants to register

to vote during the early voting period, they

must do so at their local township hall, even

though that may not be where early voting is

taking place.

“February is sort of our trial run at this –

we need to see it,” White said. “It’s like rid-

ing a bike, you’re going to fall down a few

times. We’re just going to get up (and refine

the process).”

Consolidated early voting locations

include:

Baltimore Township Hall: Baltimore,

Assyria and Maple Grove townships

Barry Township Hall: Barry and Prairiev-

ille townships

Carlton Township Hall: Carlton, Castle-

ton and Woodland townships

Rutland Charter Township Hall: Rut-

land, Hope and Hastings Charter townships

Hastings Community and Rec Center

(CERC): All four wards for the city of Hast-

ings

All other townships will be holding their

own early voting leading up to election day.

B2 OUTLET, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––––––

Jocelyn Benson

Barry County Clerk Cindy White is working with township clerks and her staff to

prepare the county’s first stretch of early voting. (Photo by Jayson Bussa)

City of Hastings

anticipates smooth

early voting experience

at Hastings CERC

Hunter McLaren

Staff Writer

The City of Hastings is preparing for its

first election following Michigan’s early

voting rules later this month.

The rules, passed by Michigan voters in

2022, call for nine days of early voting

preceding any statewide or federal elec-

tions. The Feb. 27 presidential primary will

be the first statewide or federal election to

take place since the rules were passed.

Hastings voters will be able to vote for

their primary presidential candidate as well

as weigh in on a millage renewal for Barry

County Central Dispatch.

Hastings city residents looking to cast

their ballots before election day will be

able to do so any day between 8:30 a.m.

and 4:30 p.m. from Feb. 17 to Feb. 25 at

the Hastings Community Education and

Recreation Center (CERC), located at 520

W. South St. attached to Hastings High

School. Parking is located behind the

building, and signage will direct voters to

the second floor.

Voters can also vote from 7 a.m. to 8

p.m. on election day, Feb. 27, as they nor-

mally would. For Hastings city residents,

their polling location will be Hastings Bap-

tist Church located at 309 E. Woodlawn

Ave.

The early voting process has provided a

new challenge for city and township clerks,

who were faced with finding an appropri-

ate early voting location and election

inspectors to run the polls for nine addi-

tional days. Hastings City Clerk Chris

Bever and Deputy Clerk Amy Hubbell

have been working around the clock to

make sure things go smoothly later this

month.

“It’s been a lot of work preparing for it,”

Bever said. “But it’s our job to do this as

efficiently as possible. The voters and the

state have put this up, and I know Amy’s

been working really hard. The amount of

details that go into this is crazy.”

Preparing for even one election day is

rigorous, and the new early voting stan-

dards have effectively created nine more

days for clerks to manage. Standards from

the Michigan Bureau of Elections are strict

to ensure accessibility and integrity. They

cover everything from training for election

inspectors all the way down to small details

like proper signage and even what kinds of

pens are available to voters.

“The state has been very forthcoming

with us, giving us updates as they get

them,” Hubbell said. “It’s just a lot of mak-

ing sure you’re staying on top of all the

training that comes.”

With the addition of early voting, Michi-

gan has become one of a handful of states

that employs three different avenues of

voting: absentee ballots, in-person early

voting and same-day voting at the ballot

box. Select Michigan communities partici-

pated in an early voting pilot program late

last year, but voter participation varied. It’s

hard to say what voter turnout might look

like this year with the new rules, Bever said.

“We don’t have any idea what kind of

turnout we’re going to get,” he said. “We

hope people take advantage of it to make

election day a little less hectic.”

Early voting for Hastings city residents is set to take place from 8:30 a.m. to

4:30 p.m. every day from Feb. 17 to Feb. 25 at the Hastings Community Education

and Recreation Center at 520 W. South St. (File photo)

Feb. 27 is presidential primary election day, and Hastings city residents will be

able to cast their votes from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. at Hastings Baptist Church located

at 309 E. Woodlawn Ave.

Shoppers lined up to be the first to peruse the 20,000 square feet of mer-

chandise found in B2 Outlet Stores in November of 2022. (File photo by

Jayson Bussa)