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MVU, Board Of Elections Partner For Online Training

LANSING -- Election officials and their staff now have a new online training resource that allows them to take courses, view video tutorials and participate in webinars for self-paced learning from the Michigan Bureau of Elections.

Hosted by Michigan Virtual University, the new Michigan Election eLearning Center makes use of the latest distance-learning technology to complement the Bureau of Elections' existing in-person training sessions.

"We're pleased to be able to partner with the Secretary of State's Office to support this innovative training delivery model for Michigan clerks," said Jamey Fitzpatrick, president and CEO of MVU. "It's a great addition to our existing capacity building work to assist Michigan's K-12 community. We're excited about our ability to enable online election working training in the state's 83 counties."

The site provides manuals and other informational resources in an easily accessible and searchable format. The site also includes collaboration features for Michigan's 1,600 county, city, township and village clerks that promote information sharing through specialized user groups and discussion boards on specific topics. The system allows for individualized learning plans, and progressive training modules targeted towards specialized groups, such as new clerks.

"The capabilities of our new online training system are almost unlimited," Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said. "We now have numerous tools at our disposal to ensure all Michigan election officials receive consistent and ongoing training on all of the vital procedures and laws involved in election administration."

Many clerks and their election staff people are part-time workers with regular day jobs. These officials will benefit in particular because the site allows them to receive ongoing training resources that they can access at any time.

Examples of topics covered include registering new voters, Election Day management, electronic poll book processing, and military and overseas ballot issuance and tracking. The site is accessible to clerks and their staff by signing up online through the Bureau of Elections.

MVU is a private, nonprofit Michigan corporation established by the state of Michigan in 1998 to serve as a champion for online learning. It is the parent organization of the Michigan Virtual School, Michigan LearnPort, and Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute.

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