Absentee voting: More than 2,000 Ann Arborites already have cast ballots in advance of Tuesday's primary
If absentee ballot counts are any indication, interest in this year's primary election in Ann Arbor might be lagging in comparison with two years ago.
City Clerk Jackie Beaudry said her office has had a busy week preparing for Tuesday's primary and had issued 3,280 absentee ballots as of Friday afternoon; 2,028 were returned so far.
In the primary two years ago, Mayor John Hieftje and three of his allies faced challenges by mayoral candidate Patricia Lesko and council candidates Jack Eaton, Sumi Kailasapathy and Lou Glorie.
Hieftje doesn't face a challenger in this year's primary, but Eaton and Kailasapathy are back taking another shot at running for council.
Eaton is challenging incumbent Margie Teall for the second time and Kailasapathy is running against Eric Sturgis for the open 1st Ward seat being vacated by Sandi Smith.
Incumbent Tony Derezinski is defending his 2nd Ward seat against challenger Sally Hart Petersen, and Chuck Warpehoski is running against Vivienne Armentrout for the open 5th Ward seat being vacated by Carsten Hohnke.
Incumbent Christopher Taylor is unopposed in the 3rd Ward.
Aside from City Council races, Ann Arbor voters have a number of other reasons to go to the polls on Tuesday. Democrats Andy LaBarre and Christina Montague are competing for the open 7th District seat on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners
Four attorneys — Jim Fink, Carol Kuhnke, Doug McClure and Erane Washington — also are competing for an open judge seat in Washtenaw County's 22nd Circuit Court.
Democrats Evan Pratt and Harry Bentz are competing for the open Water Resources Commissioner seat being vacated by Janis Bobrin.
State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, is defending his 53rd District state House seat against Democratic challenger Thomas Partridge.
Ann Arbor Democrat Adam Zemke is competing against Pittsfield Township Democrat Andrea Brown-Harrison for the open 55th District seat being vacated by Rick Olson.
U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, is defending his seat against Democratic challenger Daniel Marcin in the 12th Congressional district, which covers Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Republicans Karen Jacobsen and Cynthia Kallgren are competing on the GOP ticket.
Just outside Ann Arbor in other parts of Washtenaw County, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, is defending his seat against Republican Dan Davis. Democrats Ruben Marquez and Kurt Haskell are competing on the Democratic ticket for a chance to take on the GOP winner in November.
And lastly, Republicans Pete Hoekstra, Clark Durant, Gary Glenn and Randy Hekman are competing for a chance to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow in November.
Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
According to the city's website, voters still can apply for and vote by absentee ballot in person at the city clerk's office on the day before the election, which would be Monday.
Registered voters in Michigan can obtain an absentee ballot if they are 60 years old or older, unable to vote without assistance at the polls, expecting to be out of town on election day, in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, unable to attend the polls due to religious reasons, or appointed to work as an election inspector in a precinct outside of their precinct of residence.
- Go here to read all of AnnArbor.com's 2012 election stories
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.
Comments
Huron74
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 8:44 p.m.
Or perhaps given the "choice" between a sawdust sandwich or a mud pie people quite understandably decided to do a Sudoku or go fishing or take a nap or some other thing they need or want to do instead. Hint: Who you vote for don't matter now and it doesn't matter in November either, so get it over.
Tom Wieder
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 3:29 p.m.
The 2010 primary featured spirited Gubernatorial primaries in both parties, a hard-fought Democratic State Senate primary which covered most of the county and a Democratic primary for Mayor of Ann Arbor. It isn't surprising that the interest is lower this year.
Thaddeus
Tue, Aug 7, 2012 : 11:17 p.m.
While I agree with your assessment Tom, the lack of involvement is always sad and surprising to me. Particularly in a place like Ann Arbor when the Party of the elected candidate is all but a given before the General Election takes place, the real election in the Ann Arbor area for many races is typically during the Primary Election. This time we have a number of contested City Council seats, and a Judge race (replacing a long-time Judge) with multiple (I would argue) respectable candidates of merit running. We are also going into what will likely be one of the most contested, expensive General Elections ever this Fall. I'd say this is a very important Primary for Ann Arborites (and anyone else who wants the right to complain in the coming years).... For those of us who voted today (or before), we will likely get to see our vote count substantially more assuming expected poll turn-outs stay low....
Tom Wieder
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 1:15 p.m.
Except for whom you actually voted, everything in the election process is public record, including who applied for absentee ballots. Why shouldn't it be? Count your blessings. Campaigns that call or write you when you take out an absentee ballot probably would have called you anyway, because you're a registered voter. The smarter ones stop contacting you once the clerk's records show that you've returned the ballot. BTW, there is no party registration in Michigan. Primaries are conducted by the government and paid for by taxes, because, in the "old days," parties were free to pick their candidates privately, in smoke-filled rooms, open only to people the party wanted to include. Imagine what this meant in any locality - city, county, congressional district, etc. - where one party was dominant and almost always won in November. The average voter would have no real say in who was nominated and elected. The public primary system is a tradeoff - the public pays for the nomination process, but everyone gets to participate. ("Minor" parties still nominate in meetings to which they control the access.)
Macabre Sunset
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 4:59 p.m.
Parties are still free to do whatever they want, as it should be. The Democrats had hundreds of superdelegates in place to ensure that Hillary could not beat Obama when they ran what would otherwise have been an historically close primary four years ago. It was a farce that they even let people vote in that one. It's funny that people still even have the illusion that they have any say in their own party. You have a say when you pony up with a big check. Otherwise, they just want you to stop asking the real questions and make sure you vote in the general.
JRW
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 3:36 p.m.
"The smarter ones stop contacting you once the clerk's records show that you've returned the ballot." They don't stop calling even after the ballot was long ago mailed. That's the problem. One reminder call to mail the ballot would be acceptable, but not 5, 6, 7 calls. Not good. I disagree that the fact you have an absentee ballot should be public record. That should be confidential, as well as the reason. It is no one's business that you are voting absentee or why, and it has nothing to do with the corrupt "old days" of the primary system.
Macabre Sunset
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 6:26 a.m.
Why does the public have to pay for a primary run by what's supposedly a private party? And why are parties given information about who voted? I know the crooks are running the jail here, but it doesn't smell right.
JRW
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 3:36 p.m.
Totally agree.
JRW
Sat, Aug 4, 2012 : 2:31 a.m.
Many people don't realize that when you request an absentee ballot, it is not confidential. You will receive phone calls from the party you are registered with asking if you mailed it in yet, etc. Repeatedly. I think it should be confidential whether or not you vote absentee, and not a matter of public record so that you can be harassed. Bad news. --Jim
Dog Guy
Fri, Aug 3, 2012 : 11:19 p.m.
I voted absentee and (hush) Republican so I could vote for Clark Durant. In the mid-1980's Durant was appointed by the U.S. DOT as emergency manager for the Ann Arbor Railroad, which was then government owned and subsidized and more than $100,000,000.00 in debt. In four years, in addition to many other amazingly successful public service endeavors, Durant had Annie debt-free, profitable, and paying taxes instead of bleeding tax money. Despite all the furor on the Democrat ballot, I could not pass up the opportunity to vote for Clark Durant, whom I have never met.