Guides, News 8 years ago

The Michigan presidential primaries are upon us

Sanders and Clinton face the smallest gap between them yet

Fellow Spartans,

Today is a really, really important day for Michigan. More broadly, it’s an important day for the future of our country.

The March 8 Michigan primary will allow Michigan voters to have their say in who they want to vote for in November’s general election. Michigan has 147 Democratic delegates and 59 Republican delegates, which makes it the second-biggest state to win (the first being Texas). A total of 2,383 delegates are needed to secure the Democratic nomination, with 1,237 needed on the Republican side.

In Michigan specifically, the race between Bernie and Hillary has been tightening for months. Now, according to a new survey conducted by MSU, the two candidates face the smallest gap between them yet:

In the Democratic race, Clinton leads Sanders 51.9 percent to 46.9 percent, which is well within the margin of error. On the GOP side, Trump leads with 36.1 percent, followed by Ted Cruz at 19.5 percent, Marco Rubio at 18.1 percent and John Kasich at 8.9 percent.

Trump clearly leads among Republican voters in Michigan, but Hillary’s once-clear lead has turned into a very narrow race between her and Bernie. This is where your vote comes in, ladies and gents!

Essentially, the primary results in our beloved Mitten have the potential to change the outcome of the general election in November by helping to decide who will secure the nomination on both sides of the ticket.

Voting will be held from 7am. to 8pm, and absentee ballots can be submitted until 8pm. You can follow live results for each Michigan county here as they come in.

Don’t know who to vote for? Take this quiz. It’ll help you decide.

Don’t think voting is worth it because “my vote won’t count”? Here’s something to think about: some counties in Iowa were decided by 2 or 3 votes. Further proof that every single vote is important.

Whether you’re spending spring break at home with your ‘rents or stuck in EL for the week, it is hugely important that you make your way out to your local precinct (in the city you’re registered to vote in) and VOTE.

For those registered to vote in East Lansing, you can find your precinct location here.

If you’re somewhere like Punta Cana for spring break, I both envy you and hope that you’ve already voted via absentee ballot.

Some pros of voting:

feel good about taking an active role in our democracy
knowing that every vote really does count feels pretty good too
it’ll make your parents proud
you’ll get a neat little sticker
potential for selfies with neat little sticker for your social media-sharing pleasure

Cons of voting:

nothing
literally nothing

In conclusion…happy primary day, Michiganders! #SpartansVote

Michigan State