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00SL2
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Primary is an unmitigated disaster
by Art Spalding | Special to The Grand Rapids Press
Saturday January 12, 2008, 3:44 PM
Opinion column
The $10 million Michigan presidential primary to be held on Tuesday is a political fiasco and a governmental failure.
The Legislature and the governor promised that an early presidential primary would make Michigan more relevant in the presidential selection process. Instead, one-half of the Democratic Party candidates have withdrawn from the ballot, the Democratic National Committee won't sit any Michigan delegates at its national convention and the Republican National Committee will sit only one-half of the Michigan delegates at its national convention.
All this penal action occurred because the Legislature and governor had the temerity to "defy party rules" and schedule a presidential primary earlier than party rules permitted.
Equally important is the governmental failure evidenced by the recent legislation which amended the Election Law and created this presidential primary. Not only has the legislation compromised the spirit and intent of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) but it has also violated Article 2, Section 4 of the Michigan Constitution which requires the legislature to preserve the secrecy of the ballot.
The September 2007 amendatory legislation requires the Secretary of State to prescribe the form of the "official presidential primary ballot." Unlike other primary elections, when this presidential primary election is completed, the legislation requires that the names, addresses and qualified voter file number of every elector who selected a political party ballot be furnished to the chairperson of that political party. The legislation provides that such information is otherwise "confidential" and exempt from disclosure under the FOIA.
If such information is sufficiently public information to disclose to the state political parties, then it should be made available to any one who makes a FOIA request. If it is confidential and not public information, then it should not be furnished to the political parties. The news media and private citizens will not have access to the information. But that is as it should be and the political parties should have no greater right to the information than a private citizen.
This is a reminder that the FOIA is a "legislative" right and is not embedded in the Michigan Constitution where it belongs. What the Legislature gives, a future Legislature may take away.
And by the way, whatever happened to a "secret" ballot? Apparently, the Legislature and the governor, who granted this special privilege to the political parties, neglected to read or understand Article 2, Section 4 of the Michigan Constitution which requires the Legislature to enact laws "to preserve the secrecy of the ballot."
The recently enacted legislation specifically refers to the "official presidential primary ballot" and to a "participating political party ballot." There is no room for an argument that the process does not involve a "ballot." Is it the argument of the political parties that this is "only a nominating process" and therefore a secret ballot is not constitutionally required?
If that is a correct understanding of the political party's argument, then the Legislature and governor have the power to enact a law that makes available either to the political parties or to the public a list of the partisan selections of every voter in any primary election.
Or perhaps, the argument is that disclosure of the party of the candidate for whom you voted is not a part of the ballot. That hardly could be the case since the legislation specifically refers to a "participating political party ballot."
Perhaps there is still a possibility that someone will challenge the political parties after the presidential primary election and seek to enjoin this unconstitutional transfer of ballot information to the political parties.
If a primary election is a private political party matter, then political parties must reimburse our state government for the expense incurred for these private events. Preferably, we, the citizens of Michigan, will establish a constitutional dictate that makes every primary election a part of the essential governmental process, subject to the same constitutional rules that apply to general elections, including the right to a secret ballot.
Art Spalding has practiced law in Grand Rapids with Rhoades McKee for nearly 40 years. He is a resident of Plainfield Township and is a former township Trustee.
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Source:
http://www.mlive.com/elections/index.ssf/2008/01/primary_is_an_unmitigated_disa_1.html |
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Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:50 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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All the more reason not to vote in the Primary.
I find it hard to believe that more people don't have a problem with this, especially the way the Dems are treating our State. |
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I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:10 am |
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FlintConservative
F L I N T O I D
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And to make matters worse, the ACLU has filed suit to make that public information. So we could be told the info will only go to the parties, cast our ballots, and then have that info made public. Who cares about the Constitution?
"ACLU sues over voter lists from primary
Law lets only GOP, Democratic Party see names
January 11, 2008
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit in Detroit today on behalf of three political parties to overturn a new law that enables the Democratic and Republican parties – but no one else – from obtaining lists of people who will vote on Tuesday’s presidential primary.
“It’s not our intention to stop the primary,” Michigan ACLU director Kary Moss said Friday after the suit was filed in U.S. District Court. “Instead, it is our contention that the state cannot lawfully limit access to this information to the two major political parties. The consequence of this law is to exclude individuals and parties from meaningful participation in the process.”
The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Green, Libertarian and Reform parties of Michigan, the Metro Times and Winning Strategies, a political consulting firm.
The new law, passed last August, doesn’t require Michigan voters to register by party, so the party in which residents will cast votes on Tuesday is valuable to political parties, candidates, journalists and citizen groups that support or oppose ballot proposals, the ACLU said. The law says anyone other than the two parties who uses a “secret” record could be issued a 93-day, $1,000 misdemeanor.
Moss said the statute gives the major political parties an unfair advantage and violates the Equal Protection Clause and 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds. No hearings have been scheduled.
The suit asks Edmunds to declare the law unconstitutional and prohibit the Michigan Secretary of State from carrying out the law’s provisions."
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880111035 |
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Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:53 am |
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last time here
Guest
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what was the point of moving the michigan primary up to january
anyway???? just to look influencial???  |
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Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:20 pm |
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00SL2
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quote:
last time here schreef:
what was the point of moving the michigan primary up to january anyway???? just to look influencial???
To quote Art Spalding from the first post above: " The Legislature and the governor promised that an early presidential primary would
make Michigan more relevant in the presidential selection process."
Michigan Dems are like little children who get upset when Johnny and Jane (Iowa and New Hampshire) always get to go first, and they want to be included in the early influence.
quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
I find it hard to believe that more people don't have a problem with this, especially the way the Dems are treating our State.
I don't believe most people have a clue why the primary was moved up, the real reason names were removed from the primary ballot, nor any idea of how they'll be affected by other changes in our election laws. Trying to read the Public Act that set the early primary is like working through a maze or a jigsaw puzzle. Listening to news reports and views of others in the know only provide limited information. |
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Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:11 pm |
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