When you go to vote you will see that your ballot has three sections: Partisan, Nonpartisan and Ballot Proposals.

In the partisan section of the ballot you can vote one of three ways:

1. Straight Party Voting - voting for all candidates of one political party.
2. Split Ticket voting - voting straight party, however, overriding one or more individual choices that are a political party other than the one chosen for your straight party vote.
3. Mixed Ticket voting - selecting each office individually and not selecting a party.

Happy Halloween & Happy Voting in one week!

The last day to register to vote in Michigan is October 10th.

For college students, registering to vote can be confusing if you’re one of the many who live far away from your family home and near or on your campus.

This website contains lots of important info about where and how college students should register and vote: http://www.publius.org/info/students.asp

One of the key pieces of information: Michigan only allows one registration address so you must choose whether home or school is going to be your "principal residence." Wherever you register is where you must vote.

With the upcoming statewide election, not only is getting people registered important, but also voter turnout. Historically, in non-presidential elections, voter turnout numbers drop significantly. Take a look at the link below. A significant difference can be seen when comparing the presidential years and the gubernatorial years.
http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1633_8722-29616--,00.html

According to these statistics, voter turnout is usually about 10-20 percent lower in years with no presidential election. Why do these differences exist? One reason cited by voters in a League of Women Voters survey was “lack of information on which to base their voting decisions”. Michigan Voter Power strives to combat this issue by providing educational information to voters. Navigate the site to find info on how to go about voting and then come back in late September to obtain info on the candidates when the 2006 Biennial Candidates Voter Guide will be available.

Welcome to the new Michigan Voter Power Blog! Come visit weekly to read about and discuss a variety of election 2006 topics.

One of the most important things we want to remind people leading up to the November 7th election, is to remember to register to vote. This must be done at least 30 days prior to the election. More information about voter registration can be found at: http://www.lwvmi.org/voterpower/mivoterpower/registration.html

Once you are registered, remind friends and family to do so as well!