Voting in the January 15, 2008 Presidential Primary

As you probably know, the Presidential Primary election will be held on Tuesday, January 15, 2008. In Chelsea, Michigan the polling location is as follows:

Washington Street Education Center
500 Washington St.
Chelsea, MI 48118
FIND IT ON GOOGLE MAP
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Call the Chelsea City Clerk at 734.475.1771 for more information.

OTHER INFORMATION
This is a strange election day, full of controversies. The Presidential Primary is what they call "closed", which means you will be required to declare your party preference by selecting either a Democrat or Republican voting ballot. You will show ID and be verified as a registered voter and then recorded as either voting Democrat or Republican in this election. And yes, this list will given to the respective parties.

• The Democratic Ballot (link opens PDF file) includes:
  Hillary Clinton
  Chris Dodd
  Mike Gravel
  Dennis Kucinich
  Uncommitted
  
  NOTE: According to a recent Michigan Democratic Party press release: “Supporters of Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson are urged to vote "uncommitted" instead of writing in their candidates’ names because write-in votes for those candidates will not be counted.”
  

• The Republican Ballot (link opens PDF file) includes:
  Sam Brownback
  Rudy Giuliani
  Mike Huckabee
  Duncan Hunter
  John McCain
  Ron Paul
  Mitt Romney
  Tom Tancredo
  Fred Thompson
  Uncommitted
  

You will find additional information and answers to FAQs about this election on the eWashtenaw.org website:

• Presidential Primary Instructions & Frequently Asked Questions


• What's Up with the Presidential Primary? Clerk/Register Larry Kestenbaum

MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT
It is important to understand that there are NO VALID WRITE-IN CANDIDATES in this election. If you opt to write in a name instead of choosing one of the fill-in choices, your vote will NOT count. An election official from Washtenaw County, and member of the ArborParents group, said this:

“You need to know this because the election inspectors are not allowed to tell you that your vote won't count unless you SPECIFICALLY ask whether your vote will count. Even then, the answer we were given to say in such a case was, ‘There are no valid write-in candidates for this election.’ If someone were to ask, ‘Can I write-in a candidate?’ or ‘May I vote for a write-in candidate?’ we're to answer simply, ‘Yes you can,’ or ‘Yes you may.’ If they ask HOW to vote for a write-in candidate, we can only explain about how to make their ballot on the line provided for write-in candidates.

If all this gets you down about voting in the primary, consider that your VALID VOTE (if you don't throw it away on a write-in candidate) will at least influence the talking points in the media. The Republicans are certainly focusing on this primary, and the Democrats will be looking at the pro-Clinton or anti-Clinton vote.”

There is a lot of talk about this election, whether it should be held at all and what the results will mean when it's over. I'd urge each of you to do some research before going to the polls and decide what is best for you. If you support a particular candidate, visit their website, visit the website for the party you support, visit the michigan.gov website and the Washtenaw County website, and read some of the opinions and editorials that have been written recently. Be an educated voter and make your vote count!