January Primary a “Post-Holiday Nightmare”?

LANSING, MI – – The Michigan Association of County Clerks lawmakers to reject any temptation to resuscitate a law to hold the Michigan Presidential Primary in January, an idea the group called a “post-holiday nightmare” that would disenfranchise absentee voters.
     In a letter to legislative leaders, the MACC said it opposed the law establishing the Jan. 15 presidential primary for many reasons. Notably, the group said with fewer than 60 days before the proposed primary it’s too late to guarantee that absentee voters – especially military members serving overseas, the elderly and the disabled – would have time to apply for, receive and return ballots.
     “Unless Santa and his reindeer are prepared to deliver the ballots, it will be virtually impossible to get absentee ballots to everyone who requests one for the Jan. 15 primary,” said Saginaw County Clerk Sue Kaltenbach, who takes the helm as MACC’s president in January.
     The MACC’s obligation to protect the integrity of the electoral process by ensuring every citizen has the opportunity to participate “could be jeopardized by any eleventh-hour attempt by the legislature to reinstitute the primary,” Kaltenbach said.
     The county clerks, who objected to the closed primary when it was enacted in August, also expressed concern over the projected $10 million-plus price tag. Most clerks responsibly put off incurring any expenses, including the programming and printing of absentee ballots, while the law was being challenged. They did so, in part, because the Legislature limited reimbursements to counties in the event the election was cancelled, as it has been.
     “If the political parties want a state-run presidential primary that adheres to their party rules and meets their list-gathering needs, they should pay for it,” said Ottawa County Clerk Dan Krueger. “A taxpayer-funded primary that would cost in excess of $10 million should be open to all registered voters, not just those willing to declare their party affiliation in order to participate.”
     Krueger added, “Holding a closed primary at taxpayers’ expense is one holiday gift that ought to be returned unopened.”
     In addition, the MACC strongly believes that requiring voters to declare party affiliation could lead to the same sort of chaos and voter dissatisfaction that resulted the last time Michigan held a closed primary in 1992.
     The state Court of Appeals invalidated the Act late last week after ruling that an aspect of the law is unconstitutional. The case has been appealed to the state Supreme Court. The lower court’s ruling addressed only whether voter lists garnered from a taxpayer-funded primary could be provided to the state’s two major political parties since that would be using public resources for a private purpose. The court ruled that doing so would violate the Constitution.
     Chris Swope, the City of Lansing Clerk said that on his first regular workday as City Clerk, Governor Granholm called a special election for 7 weeks later to fill the State Senate vacancy. By the time the filing deadline for candidates passed, there were less than 6 weeks to layout and proof ballots. There were only 3 weeks between the special primary on February 21 and March 14.
    In this case it was not only possible to hold a successful election in a compressed time frame, it was done by a "rookie" clerk.
     Swope said, “Will there be a small number of people affected? Sure, but we’ll still have more participation than if the parties run their own caucuses or conventions.”
      He agrees that many voters would be upset and confused by having to declare which party primary they want to vote in. He also agrees that the list of who receives which ballot has to be either private (available to no one) or public (available to anyone).
   Swope believes if there is an election, he’s confident that we (the city of Lansing) can carry it out.
    He said, “There is still plenty of time for people who are not abroad to apply for and receive an absentee ballot. We already know who all the candidates are. The election vendors are on standby, they know the situation in Michigan and are ready to start printing absentee ballot applications.”