Mich. court rebuffs early primary
LANSING, MICH. — A state appeals court on Friday dealt a blow to Michigan political leaders’ hopes of holding a presidential primary Jan. 15.
In a 2-1 ruling, Judges Patrick Meter and Donald Owens objected that a law recently passed by the Legislature setting up the primary would let the state political parties keep track of voters’ names and whether they took Democratic or GOP primary ballots but give no public access to that information.
Michigan had at one time tentatively scheduled Democratic caucuses for Feb. 9, but state officials and Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm have tried to push up the date to Jan. 15. If no primary is held, Republicans will make their choices at a Jan. 25-26 party convention. Democrats also could move up their caucuses, although no date has been set.
The weeks-long logjam involving the courts has delayed scheduling of the nation’s first primary. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner says he won’t set the date of his state’s primary until it’s clear what’s going to happen with Michigan. New Hampshire law says it must go first in the nation.
A spokesman for Michigan Atty. Gen. Mike Cox said no decision had been reached on whether to take the case to the state Supreme Court.
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