FLINT (WJRT) -
(02/07/12) - We're now just three weeks away from the Michigan GOP Primary. If you plan on heading to the polls on Feb. 28, there are some changes we want you to know about. State law now requires voters to declare a party preference to receive a ballot. That information then becomes public record.
"In Michigan, we pride ourselves on being independent voters, because you don't have to declare a party in order to sign up to vote," said Saginaw County Clerk Sue Kaltenbach.
That part has been the same since Kaltenbach became clerk 11 years ago. But it's the rest of the state's election rules that Kaltenbach has to keep up to speed on. They seem to change every presidential election cycle.
"It's just something you have to deal with, because in most cases, we don't have a lot of choice," Kaltenbach said.
As the county's election administrator, Kaltenbach is responsible for carrying out elections as it's written into state law -- like it or not. Senate Bill No. 584, signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder last October, is the legislation pertaining to the 2012 Presidential Primary. The first change is that voters must indicate in writing which political party ballot he or she wishes to vote.
Voters will have to fill out an application and choose either a Republican presidential primary ballot, Democratic presidential primary ballot, or non-presidential primary ballot. That choice is for voters who prefer to only vote on local issues that day -- for example, the election in Genesee County to fill the 51st District seat in the Michigan House, due to the recall of Paul Scott.
"If they don't check one of those boxes, they won't be able to get a ballot to vote," Kaltenbach explained.
And here's the next change -- your ballot choice will become public record. By law, the Michigan secretary of state will have to make the information available upon request within 71 days of the election. Kaltenbach says the Clerk's Office must also hold onto the application forms for 22 months.
"It does mean that the parties will have access to those who voted in their given party's primary," said Mott Community College political science professor Paul Rozycki.
Rozycki says that means voters should expect more mail and phone calls. We asked two local party chairs how they planned on using the public information.
"It can help update our voter vault, which we rely on heavily. We can pull names up there for different neighborhoods so that candidates can go out and knock on door to door," said Saginaw County Republican Committee chairwoman Helene Wiltse.
"Obviously for getting information out, we want to get as much information as we can. As does everyone who's running for office in every political party," said Genesee County Democratic Committee chairman Art Reyes.
But what about "cross-over" voting? It's still allowed by law, but now, anyone could find that out!
"I can see a case here where you're a well-known Democratic office holder and you voted in a Republican Primary, that could pop up in some campaign ad next time you ran," Rozycki said.
The chairs differ on this one.
"If they want to [vote in the Republican Primary], then they're going to be marked as a Republican," Wiltse said.
"Unfortunately, with the state of politics, that's probably something that would end up coming up. But there are instances that obviously that could be explained away," Reyes said.
There is one thing both sides can agree on -- every registered voter needs to get out and vote.
Voters who decide to vote Republican on Feb. 28 will see 11 names on the ballot. But keep in mind, only Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are still in the race. Voters who choose the Democratic ballot will only see Barack Obama's name.
Poll workers will not be able to explain any of this. All they can do is show voters how to fill out the ballot. Saginaw County Clerk Sue Kaltenbach says if voters have an issue with the new laws, they should take it up with their state representative or senator.
And one more thing -- come the general election in November, voters will not have to declare a party to receive a ballot.
