You are using an outdated browser.
Please upgrade your browser
and improve your visit to our site.
Skip Navigation

What A Michigan Primary Would Look Like

Via the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Democrats are still trying to figure out how they'd finance a new vote, which they figure would cost around $10 million. But if they do find the money, here's how it would probably work, according to state party chairman Mark Brewer:

Brewer said if there were a do-over, it most likely would be a party-run primary, but one in which he'd have to plan for a huge turnout. Like a caucus, a primary would have sites around the state for people to cast their votes, but unlike an Iowa-style caucus, it would not involve people separating into groups for their candidates after hours of debate.

Voters would cast paper ballots just as they would in a primary and the sites would be open for long hours; there also would be absentee and Internet balloting. The big difference would be that the party, not the secretary of state, would run the election.

And pay for it: Brewer said he'd expect turnout to hit 2.5 million -- compared with about 600,000 in January, when Clinton was the only major candidate on the Democratic ballot. He said he'd need to pay for probably 1,000 sites across the state, whereas the typical party-run primary might involve a couple of hundred sites. ...

Brewer said if the party held an election, anyone who voted in the state-run Republican primary could not participate. Independents and Republicans who didn't vote in the GOP primary could declare to take part. Ballots would be public.

As a Michigan voter, that all sounds good to me. Where do I vote? And when?

--Jonathan Cohn