Will all votes count in Michigan's primary?

by Kirk Mason (mason@wsbt.com)

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Barack Obama

Barack Obama will not be on the ballot in Michigan's Democratic primary.

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Dec 5, 2007 at 4:27 PM EST

Story Updated: Dec 5, 2007 at 6:13 PM EST

(WSBT) Michigan voters are heading to the polls in a little over a month for a presidential primary.

The National Democratic party stripped Michigan of its delegates because the state moved up its primary.

David Fougerousse of Galien has a Good Question: Will my vote still count?

WSBT's Kirk Mason looked into it.

If you plan to vote in Michigan's Republican primary, all the names you expect to see on the ballot will be there.

On the Democratic side, many of the names won't be. Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are on the ballot; Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden are not.

St. Mary's political science professor Sean Savage says that's not necessarily an advantage for Hillary Clinton.

“Even if she mathematically wins, the media, no offense, could interpret it as ‘losing’ if she does not do as well as expected,” Savage explained.

If you try to write in Obama, Edwards, Richardson or Biden on the ballot, under Michigan law the vote won't count. That's because they knowingly withdrew from the race. But as of right now the delegates won't be counted at the Democratic National Convention anyway.

“I think the unofficial political scuttlebutt is as the process goes on, basically Michigan, Florida, and any other state that violated DNC rules will basically be forgiven,” Savage said.

And the reason for forgiveness would be because those states are so important in the final election.

So many expect a vote in the Michigan Democratic primary will wind up counting, but you may not be able to vote for you who you want.

Some Democrats are expected to vote on the uncommitted line in the primary.

That percentage of delegates wouldn't have to side with the winner of the Michigan primary at the convention. But that only matters if Michigan even has any delegates at the convention.

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