MI Primary Preview

Michigan voters go to the polls tomorrow for the primary election.

Polls are open from 7am until 8pm local time.

Voters cannot split the ticket in the primary; votes must be confined to a single party column for partisan races.

Voter registration ended a month ago, and absentee ballots had to be picked up by 4 this afternoon.

Michigan now requires voters to show a photo ID of some kind to vote — it doesn’t have to be a driver’s license.

But if you plan to vote tomorrow and don’t take a photo ID to the polls, you can still sign an affidavit to be able to vote.

The big picture of voting in the state: out of Michigan’s 9.97 million residents, an estimated 7.6 million are eligible to vote.

Michigan has approximately 7.24 million registered voters.

Secretary of state terri lynn land expects voter turnout to be about 23%, or about 1.7 million voters.

In the 2008 primary, 1.43 million people voted, about 18.8% of eligible voters.

In the 2006 primary, turnout was 1.28 million, or 16.9%.

Among the races in the partisan primary tomorrow — the gubernatorial, Congressional and state representative nominations.

County commission races are also on the ballot across the U.P.

A host of local proposals will be decided by voters, including a millage to Crystal Falls Fire Department full-time, a millage in Marquette County for the Iron Ore Heritage Trail and a recall petition in Schoolcraft County against Sheriff Grant Harris.

Also, if you flip over to the back of the ballot, you’ll decide the delegates to the Republican and Democratic Party county conventions.