Voting guide

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It’s time for a dose of democracy in Michigan. The Michigan primary is Tuesday, and while half of the Democratic candidates aren’t coming, that doesn’t mean voting is irrelevant. It’s the first time many students will have input on the presidential election. But how do you do vote?

What you need

First, you need to be registered to vote.

Anyone who registered before Dec. 17 is eligible to vote Tuesday. This could have been done at a post office or in person at a local Secretary of State, township clerk or county clerk office.

Granted, it might have been a while since registering to vote. You’ve learned a lot and forgotten just as much since then — even where you registered.

People who are unsure of which precinct they belong to can visit www.michigan.gov/vote for an answer. By entering a driver’s license number or name, birth month, birth year and ZIP code, you can find where to vote.

If you registered at home, you can’t vote in East Lansing (unless you’re registered here, of course). If you requested an absentee ballot, you have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to return it to a clerk’s office. While America wants you to vote, it’s not always simple.

A law enacted last year now requires voters to present a photo ID at the polls. This identification can be a student ID or a driver’s license. If you registered by mail, a federal photo ID is required, but student identification covers that.

What you don’t need

While you have to be registered to vote, you don’t have to be registered with a political party.

The primary limits voters to one ballot, either Democratic or Republican. Voting doesn’t sign people up for anything — all voter information is confidential and will only be seen by the state Democratic or Republican parties.

Who gets your vote?

All of the Republican candidates will be on the ballot, but half of the Democratic candidates won’t.

When Michigan moved its primary to Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee stripped the state of its convention delegates for violating the committee’s rules.

Subsequently, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson removed their names from the ballot.

That leaves Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Mike Gravel and “uncommitted” as the choices for Democratic voters.

Dodd and Richardson both dropped out of the presidential race, but their names will remain on the ballot.

Despite this, East Lansing City Clerk Sharon Reid said the primary is gaining importance and voter turnout might be higher than originally expected.

“In the beginning, when it didn’t look like Michigan was going to be a state that’s critical to the race, the numbers might have been lower,” she said. “Now that we’ve seen it’s become more important, we’ve seen a lot of activity in the past few days.”

What students are doing

Flyers, signs and bumper stickers likely will be plastered around East Lansing until Tuesday. A lot of effort goes into those street-side decorations.

Ben Morlock, chairman of MSU College Republicans, sent messages to about 600 people who are a part of the organization’s Facebook.com group and e-mails to the MSU College Republicans 1,000-person listserv.

“The most important thing we can do is get our college Republican members involved in the activities taking place in the state,” he said. “There’s lots of excitement involved for Republicans and it’s the first time we will have an input on the presidential process.”

What worked best for Matt Robb, who spent more than seven months organizing 13 Iowa precincts for the Obama campaign, was talking to people.

“We would knock on doors and we would sit out there at tables with brochures and supporter cards and try to sign people up,” the history and political theory and constitutional democracy senior said.

“The main thing is if you want to get people to vote. If it’s not written down, it doesn’t count.”

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