Sterling Heights

Clerk’s Office readies for Feb. 28 election

By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer

The 2012 presidential race continues to foster fervor nationwide, and voters across Michigan will soon have their chance to weigh in.

Locally, Sterling Heights City Clerk Walt Blessed anticipates an approximately 25 percent turnout among registered voters at the Feb. 28 presidential primary, “especially if it’s still in doubt as to who’s going to win the Republican nomination.”

The more clear-cut the Republican frontrunner, he said, the lower that number will drop. As of Feb. 8, Sterling Heights had 86,274 registered voters, he noted.

Countywide, Chief Election Clerk Roger Cardamone guesses, turnout will be weaker than the 23 percent seen in 2008, when the race was “pretty hotly contested on the Democratic and Republican sides.”

Then, with incumbent President George W. Bush term limited, both parties’ slots seemed wide open. This time around, President Barack Obama is the only Democrat named, and the party is relying on a May caucus, not the primary, to choose a nominee, anyway, said Cardamone.

He did note that special elections running in conjunction with the primary — two school bond proposals in Center Line, one public safety ballot question in Bruce Township, none of which affect Sterling Heights — may slightly boost the overall county figures.

Unlike in the typical August primary, where Republican and Democratic options coexist on a single ballot, there are two separate ballots for the Feb. 28 presidential primary, meaning voters must check a box indicating party preference when arriving at the polls or requesting an absentee ballot, said Blessed.

He urged residents incensed by perceived encroachment on privacy not to kill the messenger: “That’s all determined, of course, by the Legislature as far as how it works for a presidential primary,” he said.

Picking a party in February does not preclude a resident from changing his or her mind at subsequent elections this year — one has no bearing on the other, stressed Cardmone.

To be eligible to participate in the upcoming primary, residents must have been registered to vote by Jan. 30.

Blessed noted a new addition to voter applications: a section required by the Secretary of State that prompts individuals to confirm their U.S. citizenship.

“We tell (voters), if you’re upset with it, then contact your legislator, because it’s not our doing,” he said. “It’s not our decision. … We’re just carrying out their mandate.”

As in all elections, voters must present valid identification or sign an affidavit stating they do not have ID on their person at the polls in order to receive a ballot, he said.

As of Feb. 9, Blessed said his office had mailed out 7,100 absentee ballots. Requests to receive an absentee ballot via mail must be received by the Clerk’s Office by 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25. The office is open specifically for that purpose that day, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

With the field of hopefuls in constant influx throughout the campaign season, names of Republicans who long ago dropped out of the race — such as Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry — will still appear on the ballot, as it’s impossible for the ballot to be amended continuously, said Blessed.

And while those individuals will be familiar to most, it may be the first time voters encounter some candidates’ names, he said.

“What’s funny is, there’s a lot of guys you haven’t even heard of,” he said.

On the Democratic ballot, voters can choose from a much narrower field — incumbent President Barack Obama or “uncommitted” — or write in a candidate, said Blessed.

Theoretically, if “uncommitted” votes outnumbered votes for Obama, uncommitted delegates would be sent to the Democratic convention, he explained.

However, “that’s going to be meaningless, anyways, because the Democrats are doing their own caucus, and that’s how they elect their nominees: through their own caucus,” he said.

So in the end, while Cardamone said he’d never discourage anyone from participating in a publicly funded election, he explained that votes cast on the Democratic ballot will matter little. He noted that some individuals decide to participate regardless to maintain a perfect voting record.

The whole situation becomes even more convoluted in that disputes over the order in which states hold presidential primaries can trigger sanctions in terms of the number of a state’s delegates seated at the nominating convention.

In 2008, Michigan insisted on having its primary Jan. 15, even after the Republican National Committee declared that no state could have a primary prior to Feb. 5, and the Democratic National Committee made a similar announcement, but exempted Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

According to the Michigan Secretary of State Office, the Democrats responded to Michigan’s defiance of the plan by threatening to seat none of the state’s delegates, and the Republicans vowed to only seat half. Amid the hullabaloo, four candidates, including Obama, withdrew from the primary, which proceeded as planned Jan. 15.

The Democrats didn’t make good on their threat and seated all of Michigan’s delegates, but the Republicans followed through with only recognizing half.

Similar threats of sanctions have been swirling around this year’s primaries, as well,
but states that opt to hold early primaries regardless hope to increase their influence over the frontrunners as Super Tuesday approaches and to draw candidates’ focus to their unique issues.

For more information on the primary, click on Voter Information Center on the city of Sterling Heights’ website at www.sterling-heights.net. The link directs visitors to the Secretary of State website, where they can view a sample ballot, verify that they’re registered, get a map to their precinct and more.

For questions via phone, call the Clerk’s Office at (586) 446-2420. The Clerk’s Office is located in City Hall, 40555 Utica Road, at Dodge Park Road.

Polls are open 7 a.m.- 8 p.m. Feb. 28.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Cortney Casey at ccasey@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1046.