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Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 10, 1988
Voters' turnout higher
locally than
nationally
BY STACEY GRAY
AND MICHAEL LUSTIG
More than 61 percent of registered
voters in Washtenaw County went to
the polls Tuesday, according to
unofficial results from the County
Clerk's office. Nationwide voter
turnout, however, was the lowest in
decades, hovering around 50 percent.
Official figures will not be re-
leased for about two weeks, after the
County Board of Canvassers has in-
spected ballots.
Student voter turnout at the Uni-
versity appears to be lower than
county figures, nearing the national
average. Of the 1,746 students regis-
tered to vote at East Quad, 910 (52.1
percent), showed up. At Alice Lloyd
46.4 percent of those who registered
actually voted, according to the
county clerk's office.
City Election Clerk Herb Katz
was pleased with the turnout. "I
think it's an excellent turnout. I
think there was a lot of local inter-
est.... Ann Arbor is a very aware
city, and University students play a
part in it," he said.
Turnout might have been boosted
by the voter registration drive orga-
nized this fall by the, United States
Student Association, the Michigan
Collegiate Coalition, and several
other groups. They registered about
6,700 new voters.
Long lines at polling sites, espe-
cially in residence halls and the
Michigan Union, forced some people
to wait over two hours to vote, and
could have driven potential voters
away.
"A lot of people just saw the lines
and walked away," said LSA first-
year student Jeff Schwartz, who
worked at the Alice Lloyd front desk
Tuesday night.
Overall, Washtenaw County vot-
ers bucked national trends. While
Democratic presidential candidate
Michael Dukakis won only 46 per-
cent of the national vote, he picked
up 52.5 percent of the county's
votes.
Democratic State Sen. Lana Pol-
lack, who lost to six-term U.S. Rep.
Carl Pursell in the race for Michi-
gan's 2nd District congressional seat,
received 55 percent of the votes in
the county, compared to 46 percent
across the state.
Proposal A, the controversial plan
to end state-funded abortions for
Medicaid recipients, passed by a 57-
43 margin in Michigan. But in
Washtenaw County, the vote went
the other way, with 60 percent of
voters in favor of continued funding.
Washtenaw
County tallies
State Representative
Perry Bullard (D) x 26,859 (68.1%)
Rich Birkett (R) 12,405 (31.4)
Scott Jones (WAC) 193 (.5)
County Prosecutor
William Delhey (R) x 56,596 (54.7)
Terry O'Hagan (D) 47,176 (45.3)
County Sheriff
Ronald Schebil (R) x 61,274 (58.52)
Harold Owings (D) 43,426 (41.48)
County Clerk
Robert Harrison (R) x 50,577(50.93)
Kevin McCormick (D) 48,735 (49.07)
County Treasurer
Michael Stimpson (R) x 50,470(51.12)
Jan BenDor (D) 48,253 (48.88)
Drain Commissioner
Janis Bobrin (D)
Philip Bondie (R)
circuit court
Melinda Morris
Nancy Francis
R - Republican
D - Democrat
WAC - Workers
sions
52,800 (53.03)
46,775 (46.97)
40,295(52.8)
36,018(47.2)
Against Conces-
Voters seek cure for long lines
x - denotes incumbent
jiY TARANEH SHAFI
Hour-long voting lines around
the state Tuesday have driven some
voters to take action against city of-
ficials in two cities. In Ann Arbor,
students are imploring city officials
to rethink polling practices, while in
Southfield local Democrats won a
court ruling to keep the polls open
late.
"All voters in Ann Arbor, espe-
cially student voters, have a right to
be upset about this," Zachary Kit-
trie, Michigan Student Assembly
external relations chair said yester-
day. At residence halls and the
Iichigan Union, students waited
two hours or more to vote.
Kittrie talked extensively with
city officials yesterday to try to find
a way to solve the voting problem.
"The city council has formed a task
force to look at alternative voting
systems in Ann Arbor," Kittrie said.
A SCARCITY of voting
booths, election officials, and space
at the polling sites contributed to the
long delays, Kittrie said. He hopes
the task force will research and solve
these problems, and if necessary, he
will file a formal complaint with the
city.
Tuesday's election was set up,
"without that much planning, with-
out that much thought, and without
that much foresight," said Kittrie. "It
was demonstrated last night that the
current situation in Ann Arbor is not
favorable to voters - it's not a
'voter-friendly' system and that's a
problem."
In Southfield the lines were so
long that U.S. District Judge Anna
Diggs Taylor issued a temporary re-
straining order allowing 16 precincts
to keep their doors open until 11
p.m. Tuesday night. People inside
the precincts by that time were al-
lowed to vote.
The ruling came after Democratic
Party attorneys filed suit to keep the
polls open, said Joe Sullivan, senior
law clerk for Judge Taylor. Attor-
neys argued that the city clerk did
not provide enough voting booths at
the sites. Michigan state law man-
dates that a minimum of one punch-
card voting device be provided for
every 400 registered voters.
REPUBLICAN PARTY attor-
neys then filed a countersuit arguing
that the city had no authority under
state law to extend the voting hours.
But Judge Taylor determined that
since voters were being deprived of
their fundamental right to vote, the
polls should remain open.
"We've had a lot of complaints
that the lines were really long and
that there weren't enough devices,"
said Marsha Pec, election analyst for
the Bureau of Elections in Lansing.
IN BRIEF
Compiled from Associated Press and staff reports
Jews recall Kristallnacht
FRANKFURT, West Germany - On the fiftieth anniversary of
Kristallnacht, "the night of broken glass," West German Jewish leader
Heinz Galinski said yesterday descendants of Holocaust victims will pre-
serve the memory of the systematic genocide of 6 million Jews.
Adolf Hitler sent gangs of Nazis into the streets the night of Novem-
ber 9, 1938. They killed scores of Jews, burned hundreds of synagogues,
ransacked 7,500 Jewish businesses, destroyed thousands of Jewish homes,
and rounded up 30,000 Jews for shipment to concentration camps.
At a remembrance ceremony in East Germany, Galinski urged both
nations to make the anniversary a joint day of remembrance of the Nazi
past.
Horst Sindermann, president of the East German parliament, made a
speech Tuesday rejecting responsibility for Nazi atrocities. He repeated the
East German argument that German communists stood by the Jews.
Air Force grounds bombers
WASHINGTON - The Air Force grounded the nation's fleet of B-1B
long-range bombers yesterday for a precautionary safety inspection fol-
lowing a crash of one of the new planes in Texas.
The Strategic Air Command, which is responsible for land-based nu,
clear bomber and missile forces, said the order to suspend flying was a
"normal precaution" in the wake of a major accident.
The flight suspension order will be followed within the next day or
two by specific instructions to B-lB mechanics on what aircraft systems
they must inspect, said Lt. Col. George Peck, a spokesperson at SAC
headquarters in Omaha, Neb.
Peck said he did not know which systems would be checked and would
not speculate on the cause of the crash.
Tuesday's crash was the second involving a production-model B-B in
14 months. The aircraft will return to flying status after the inspection.
Mich. GOP looking to '90
LANSING - Republicans say their gain of three seats puts them in
prime position to win control of the Michigan House in 1990, but
Democratic leaders said yesterday the GOP fell short of its goal.
Democrats lead the 110-member House with 61 members over 49
Republicans after Tuesday's election.
Republicans picked up four seats held by Democratic incumbents, but
lost one race to a Democrat from the North Peninsula.
Minority Floor Leader Paul Hillegonds (R-Holland) said he believes
the GOP's targeting strategy worked well, and adds "I'll think our efforts
to gain a majority by 1990 are not necessarily off track."
But House Majority Leader Lewis Dodak (D-Montrose) said "I don't
see it as any great victory by any means for the Republicans. I think
they're a little embarrassed they didn't pick up more for all the money and
effort they put into beating Democratic incumbents."
DOE official says atomic
plant may not open in Dec.
WASHINGTON - An atomic reactor at the Savannah River Plant
near Aiken S.C. probably will not restart as scheduled at the end of De-
cember, further delaying new supplies of critical nuclear weapons materi-
als, says Department of Energy safety official Richard Starostecki.
In the past few months, nuclear weapons production has ground to a
virtual halt. Safety concerns shut down the three reactors at Savannah
River and two other buildings near Denver and Cincinnati have also been
closed because of a contamination problem and a strike.
The Savannah River reactors are the only facilities in the United
States now capable of producing plutonium and tritium which are needed
for nuclear weapons.
Installing safer equipment and raising training standards to levels com-
mensurate with those found in private industry would take years, Staro-
stecki said.
EXTRAS
Voters pick parties for '92
Before they even left the polling sites, some voters across Michigan
were already thinking about the next Presidential elections.
On Tuesday, voters registered their party affiliation for the state's new
closed primary system which would prevent cross-party voting in the
primaries.
Although the registration cards have been available for several months,
the bulk were made available at polling sites. "In Pittsfield, people
grabbed them like hot-cakes," said Dan Byrne of the Washtenaw County
Election Division.
According to Byrne, most voters took the registration forms home. Of
the ones turned in so far, the majority have been marked unaffiliated or
independent, or just left blank, Byrne said.
Michigan will be joining at least 35 other states which will hold
closed primaries for the 1992 election primaries.
For those not in the mood to choose a party now, there are still 3 1/2
years before registration closes for '92.
-By Scott Chaplin
Wbe £icbigan a41Q
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday
through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the
University of Michigan. Subscription rates: For fall and winter (2
semesters) $25.00 in-town and $35.00 out-of-town, for fall only
$15.00 in-town and $20.00 out-of-town.
,Prop.A
Continued from Page 1
group has no definite plans yet, it
will not give up fighting for abor-
tion rights.
"We are tired, but energized to go
on," Long said. "We are not willing
to step back and let RTL push forth
their agenda to ban abortions for all
women."
But Listing said Right To Life's
victory will not lead to the end of
abortions for all women.
"ABORTION will still be le-
gal in Michigan. The only way (to
ban it) will be through a U.S.
Supreme Court decision," Listing
said.
"We will continue to work on
legislation and education. We will
try to restore the civil rights of the
unborn child."
PCC says the right-to-life group
succeeded because it presented abor-
tion as an economic issue rather than
a social one, PCC Chair Judith Frye
said.
"I think it's rather devastating
that poor women are denied rights
given to women of middle and upper
classes. (RTL) disguised the issue.
They keep pounding away on taxes
and welfare."
FOR THE PAST 11 years,
Michigan had funded abortions at a
cost of $6 million a year.
Listing attributes Right To Life's
success to strong grassroots support
and volunteers who campaigned for
months to pass the proposal.
In Ann Arbor, only 14,643 voted
for the proposal while 36,219 voted
against it, the County Clerk's office
reported.
Voters in Arkansas and Colorado
- the only other states voting on
state-funded abortions - also ap-
proved similar bans Tuesday.
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The Michigan Daily is a member
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