a 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. I DPIGR3T OIL PuDa Aeurning~DS ThnSometim., = ;Hat M e'son Y°r11epANL r _ __ i AYoung l r fir 11 _ ' 6 TIR ciudf3c/nge , dJs E r, J nw Day: Ot- ..: hes h . the 8 o iis p'Y rn p'k at,{ jn ruar ie tape ya: waYi j. evM k&eat The Michigan Daily is a member National Student News Service. Editor in ChicE............REBECCA BLUMENSTEIN Managing Editor...........MARTHA SEVETSON News Editor.......................................EVE BECKER University Editor.............................ANDREW MILLS NEWS STAFF: Victoria Bauer, Scott Chaplin, Miguel Cruz, Marion Davis, Paul De Rooij, Noah Finkel, Kelly Gafford, Alex Gordon, Stacy Gray, Tara Gruzen, Donna Iadipaolo, Steve Knopper, Mark Kolar, Ed Krachmer, Scott Lahde, Kristine Labonde, Michael Lustig. Alyssa Lustigman, Fran Obied, Lisa Pollak, Micah Schmnit, David Schwartz, Jonathan Scott, Anna Senkevitch, Noelle Shadwick, Nicole Shaw, Monica Smith, Nathan Smith, Ryan Tutak, Mark Weisbrot, Lisa Winer. Opinion Page Editors.............JEFFREY RUTHERFORD CALE SOUTHWORTH Associate Opinion Page Editor..............AMY HARMON OPINION STAFF: Muzammil Ahmed, Elizabeth Esch, Bill Gladstone, Kristin Hoffman, Rollie Hudson, Marc Klein, Karen Miller, I. 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