Presidential Primary ON...Supreme Court Rules!
MI Supreme Court Ruling:
Download 135274_20071121_or.pdf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Bill Nowling
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
(517) 487-5413
bnowling@migop.org
MI Supreme Court Keeps Jan. 15 Presidential Primary
Supreme Court Recognizes "Public Good" of Presidential Primary
LANSING -- Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saulius “Saul” Anuzis issued the following statement today in response to Michigan Supreme Court ruling that the Jan. 15 presidential primary may be held as scheduled:
“This is a victory for the estimated 2.5 million Michigan voters who will participate in the presidential primary. Today’s ruling means that Michigan will continue to remain relevant in the presidential selection process, and it will be the first major industrial state to hold its primary in 2008. The goal all along has been to give Michigan voters the voice they deserve in determining who should be the respective parties’ nominee for president of the United States. It’s good for Michigan, it’s good for the process, and it’s good for party.”
Anuzis added that he hoped majority Democrats in the Michigan House of Representatives would pass legislation, sent to them two weeks ago by the Republican-led state Senate, that would put all Democrat presidential candidates on Michigan’s primary ballot. In October, four of the eight current Democrat candidates withdrew their names under pressure from special interest groups intent on preserving Iowa and New Hampshire’s primacy in the presidential selection process.
GONGWERS News Service reported: Michigan’s January 15 presidential primary will go forward under a decision issued Wednesday by a 4-3 majority of the Supreme Court. The court said the law served a predominantly public purpose, reversing lower court rulings that said provisions giving the two major parties exclusive access to primary voter lists was an unconstitutional appropriation of public property for private purposes.
Both the Democratic and Republican Parties said they would participate in the primary if the law were to be upheld. The voter lists at the center of the dispute identify which primary ballot each voter in the primary selects to use.
The court majority said parties unquestionable serve a public purpose and that the voter lists help them to support or oppose candidates and ballot issues, which is an integral part of democracy.
Chief Justice Clifford Taylor and Justices Maura Corrigan, Stephen Markman and Robert Young Jr. signed the majority opinion (Grebner v. Michigan, SC docket No. 135274).
Justice Michael Cavanagh would not have taken the appeal and let the lower court rulings stand. In the dissent, signed by Justice Marilyn Kelly, he said there is no express public purpose in how access to the lists are restricted. Justice Elizabeth Weaver dissented, saying the lower courts correctly held that a two-thirds majority vote was required to give the lists to the parties.
The Michigan Press Association had also filed a brief on Tuesday asking the entire primary statute be tossed because of First Amendment violations regarding the penalties assessed to journalists and citizens for publishing any information they acquire regarding the voter lists.
MI Supreme Court Ruling:
