Primary Election Day in Marquette County

MARQUETTE COUNTY — March 10th is election day in the state of Michigan. Polls for the primary presidential election have been open since this morning, and there’s still some time left for voters to cast their ballots in Marquette County.

All voters are required to show a picture ID when they arrive to their polling location. Poll workers will make sure that each person is registered, and if they aren’t, voters are asked to visit their city or township clerk. Michigan now offers same-day registration, so it’s not too late to get registered if you haven’t already.

This is a closed primary, which means voters will have to choose either a democratic or a republican ballot. Marquette County Clerk Linda Talsma says it’s also important to check beforehand that the candidate you want to vote for is still in the race.

“One thing to also remember is you have to make sure that you know who’s still on the ballot as far as a candidate that maybe hasn’t withdrawn,” Talsma explained. “The precinct inspectors can’t tell you which candidate is still on the ballot; that’s up to the voter to know. So please check your websites and make sure that candidate is still a candidate that has not fallen off the ballot.”

There may only be a few hours left to vote in the primaries, but it isn’t too late. The polls close at 8:00 p.m., but as long as voters are in line by that time, they’ll be able to get their votes in.

“Keep in mind, we do keep those polls open for you from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 at night,” said Talsma. “The reason for that is hopefully if you forgot to do it before you went to work, you can do it when you get off of work. So at 8:00 if you are in line, you will be able to vote. If you come in after that, the polls are then closed. So we’ll have a precinct worker stand in line when the 8:00 mark is, and whoever’s in line will get a chance to vote.”

Talsma says the County Clerk’s Office hopes to see everyone out making their voices heard before the polls close tonight.