Making sure your vote counts in the August Primary

Alpena — For most Michiganders, they know the drill when it comes to voting in a primary election.

For new voters and voters moving from a different state, it might not be as crystal clear. On the partisan part of the ballot, a citizen will see a Democratic candidate column, a Republican candidate column, and a Libertarian candidate column. A voter cannot vote in different parties. They need to stay in their lane.

“When we say stay in your lane, we mean from the governor choice on down to your county commissioner, that all has to be in the same party,” said Dottie Haase, President of the League of Women Voters in Alpena County.

The importance of voting in the party a voter’s views aligns with is so the vote will not be declared invalid. For example, voting for a Republican governor candidate and a Democratic state representative would throw away the vote. Voters can vote on non-partisan races like candidates running for a judge. These races are located in a separate column, under no party affiliation. Ballot issues are separate as well and don’t fall under a specific party. Michigan has a closed primary. Haase sees this primary having the potential to attract more voters ahead of November.

“More women are running than ever before and we’re excited about that so it’ll just be interesting to see if we have a bigger turnout,” said Haase. “I’m hoping Alpena County has a huge turnout, more than normal.”

To learn more about your local elections and what will be on your ballot on August 7, visit the Secretary of State website to navigate to your area (https://www.michigan.gov/sos/).

For more on the League of Women Voters of Alpena County, visit the website (http://www.lwvalpenacounty.org/index.html).