Based on results of elections over the last four decades, only about 1 in 5 registered voters is expected to participate in the primary election, so the ability of a single voter to affect the outcome is greater. Plus, many elections for Congress and the Legislature are waged in districts that are overwhelmingly partisan, meaning the winner of the Democratic or Republican primary is generally elected in the fall, according to past election results.
Only 1.3 million people voted in the state's 2006 primary, which was the last gubernatorial election year. That was about 17% of the state's 7.6 million registered voters.
Since 1978, the highest voter turnout in a Michigan primary was 24.4% in 1982.
Hear that? Your ability to affect the outcome of an election is much greater in a primary. Enthusiasm? You bet. I can't wait to get there on August 3rd and
If you want to check your registration, follow this link:
If you find anything wrong in your information or don't show up at all, get thee to your local SOS office today and get it fixed.
On a personal note: Since the legiscritters are going to be out until the 21st (and it's highly doubtful that anything will get done until after the primary anyway), my posting for the next couple of weeks will be sporadic at best, as I deal with a personal issue that is going to demand my attention. Plus, it's been a year since I've had a significant break from the 24/7 nature of watching the news cycles/maintaining this blog - so I'm going to take some time to try and unplug a bit, enjoy some Michigan summer, and refill the mental tank that at this point is pretty much drained - before crazy season really gets underway.
Behave yourselves - and if you have primary candidates that you want to promote, now is the time to submit those diaries and maybe sway some opinions...