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. The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Monday, November 3, 2008 - 7A


cv: Monday, November 3, 2008 - lA

ABSENTEE VOTING
Students voting at
home for tightraces
With Ann Arbor a encouraged their members to
vote in Ann Arbor because of
solid Democratic the simplicity of the process, the
group encouraged members from
hotbed, some choose highly contested congressional
districts to vote at home or vote
absentee ballots absentee.
"The only voters that we rec-
By NICOLE ABER ommended were our members
Daily StaffReporter who are from the 7th and 9th dis-
tricts," Styer said.
Although campus political LSA freshman Ariel Huang,
organizations have registered who's from Rochester Hills in
record numbers of students to the 9th district, said she's voting
vote in Ann Arbor tomorrow, absentee in an effort to get Gary
some in-state students are hoping Peters into office.
voting absentee in their home- "I figured because my home-
towns will have a greater impact. town is mostly Republican, if I
Many students from two of vote Democrat it would count
Michigan's highly-contested more at home than if I vote here,"
congressional districts - the 7th she said.
district, which includes Branch, LSA junior Domenic Terenzi,
Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson and a Rochester resident, expressed a
Lenawee counties, and the 9th similar sentiment, saying the con-
district, which includes Oakland gressional election influenced his
County - see their local races as decision.
more up in the air, making their "Ann Arbor is known as a liberal
individual votes more valuable. stronghold, so I think it might be
Incumbent U.S. Representa- helpful to spread the vote," he said.
tive Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) and "That would be more influential."
Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) Similarly, many conserva-
are vying for a seat in the 7th tive students are voting absentee
district, which has been held by or returning home to vote. LSA
Republicans since 1993. junior Brady Smith, chair of the
The state's 9th congressional University's College Republicans,
district features a race between said the vast majority of the orga-
Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield nization's members are voting
Hills) and incumbent U.S. Rep. absentee. He said the group has
Joe Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield many members from both the 7th
Township). and 9th congressional districts.
Mark Grebner, a political con- Smith said he believes College
sultant and owner of Practical Republican members can better
Political Consulting in East Lan- influencelocalissuesbeingdecided
sing, saidthis year's student turn- in the election on Tuesday if they
out will affect the congressional vote absentee in their hometowns.
elections. "There are alot oflocal issues,"
"In this case turnout is up and Smith said. "That's why I think
. students have moved to the left, so absentee voting was very popular
students is what makes all these among our membership."
districts competitive," Greber LSA junior Grant Boyer, of
said. He said about nearly 1,000 Grand Rapids, said he is voting
people from the 7th and 9th dis- absentee in the hope his vote will
tricts have had absentee ballots matter more back home.
mailed to Ann Arbor addresses "I'm pretty sure Ann Arbor's
alone. voting Democratic anyway, so I
LSA junior Nathaniel Styer, don't think my vote would change
president of the University's Col- the outcome of this area," he
lege Democrats chapter, said that said. "I think it will matter more
while his organization mainly there."
PREPARING FOR ELECTION DAY
Detroit anticipates
record voter turnout

tine Power
MACOMB unteering a
From Page 1A Democratic
said that as
tion of whether- its voters will er, she has s
throw their support behind Barack unteers sho
Obama, the first black presidential "It's bee
nominee from a major party. great," she
Volunteers at Obama's field office efforts. "Es
in Sterling Heights said they have days,we've s
seen an unprecedented level of seen at all, c
voter engagement and involvement McCain
this election. This election cycle, describeds
Macomb County Clerk Carmella telephone in
Sabaugh said there have been about ing they've
600,000 to 700,000 registrations gized volun
in Macomb, more than a 20 percent campaign's:
increase from the last presidential Warrenr
election. She said she expects "at who's been
least an 80 percent turnout" from paign for at
voters on Election Day. at McCain'
Volunteer Jim Keck, 61, said that have been a
this is the most energized election cially youn
he's seen in nearly 40 years. excited to h
"I haven't assisted in a campaign Sterling]
like this since Eugene McCarthy Lonsway, 4
in 1968," Keck said. "For people pointing"
my age, this is almost like the '60s resources or
all over again, and a lot of it is the didn't stopt
enthusiasm of young people." in the state.
Keck, a resident of Forest Park, "He ma
Ill., said he was askedby the Obama his campai
campaign to travel and volunteer at sway said.'
an office in a nearby state because we never li
Obama has a sizable lead in polls in been makin
his home state. that announ
Since arriving at the Sterling Ciurla ag
Heights office, Keck said he's been from the st
"very pleasantly inspired by the hurt their e
people here." "We are
"I think this office is like a micro- just make
cosm of what's going on across the she said.
country,"hesaid."Wehave everycon- Addingt
ceivable constituency of this county voter engag
here, both racially and age-wise." Thursday's
Sterling Heights resident Chris- the Depart
GRAND RAPIDS
From Page 1A
"We try to provide a cushion for what hap-
pens in Detroit," Moore said. "We have got to
try and counter the margins, and that's what
Kent and Ottawa counties do."
Both the Ottawa County and Kent County
GOP groups have focused their efforts on iden-
tifying Republican voters and turning them
out to vote.
Moore said that after McCain's campaign
pulled advertising and staff out of Michigan
about a month ago, he saw an increase in the
number of people volunteering to canvass or
make phone calls on behalf of Republican can-
didates.
"There is a sense of urgency here on the
ground," Moore said. "I think everyone does
realize that it's up to us on the ground if we
want to try and make a difference in this race
and in this state."
In 2004, 58 percent of Kent County voters
chose President George Bush, giving him a
margin of 55,000 more votes than the Demo-
cratic nominee, John Kerry. In neighboring
Ottawa County, 72 percent of voters cast bal-
lots for Bush, giving the Republican candidate
a margin of 56,000 votes.
"That helps offset our very dear friends in
Ann Arbor and the losses that we'll have out
of there," Moore said of the110,000-vote mar-
gin.
In Washtenaw County, about 48,000 more
voters chose Kerry than Bush. In Wayne Coun-
ty, that number was 342,000.
Statewide, Kerry beat Bush by a margin of
165,000 votes.
Faith Steketee, director of the Ottawa Coun-
ty Republican Party, said her efforts aren't
focused on countering the Democratic major-
ity in southeastern Michigan.
"My job is to get out the maximum num-
ber of votes in Ottawa County," Steketee
said. "I can't affect the state of Michigan or
the United States, but I can affect Ottawa
County."

Steketee, who heads the Ottawa County
GOP's headquarters in Holland, said the orga-
nization is ahead of schedule in its goal. The
office closed early Saturday, though Steketee
remained later making phone calls to remind
area residents to vote.
"The only thing we can do is get as many
Republicans out as possible," Steketee said.

s, who has been vol-
at the office since the
National Convention,
the election draws clos-
een more and more vol-
wing up atthe office.
n really great, really
said of the volunteer
pecially in the last few
een faces that we haven't
oming in off the street."
volunteers in Macomb
similar experiences in
terviews lastnight, say-
managed to find ener-
teers despite the Obama
financial advantage.
resident Jessica Ciurla,
working at the cam-
bout a month, said that
s Macomb office, there
lot of volunteers, "espe-
g people who are very
elp John McCain."
Heights resident Roger
49, said it was "disap-
when McCain pulled
ut of Michigan, but that
he efforts of volunteers
y have de-emphasized
gn (in Michigan)," Lon-
"But we continued, and
eft the state and we've
g phone calls ever since
cement was made."
reed that McCain's exit
ate didn't significantly
fforts.
more grassroots, so we
phone calls to people,"
o the heightened level of
ement in the area was
announcement from
tment of Justice that

federal election monitors will be
deployed to Macomb to watch for
voter intimidation and other ille-
galities on Election Day.
According to a Department of
Justice press release, Macomb is
one of 59 jurisdictions in 23 states
where federal workers will moni-
tor the polls. The county is the lone
Michigan location that will receive
the scrutiny.
Sabaugh said in a phone inter-
view Sunday that she "welcomes"
the federal poll monitors because
they ensure a more fair election.
She said her office doesn't want vot-
ers in the county to be challenged
for "frivolous" reasons.
According to Thursday's press
release, "The observers and
Department personnel will gather
information on whether voters are
subject to different voting qualifi-
cations or procedures on the basis
of race, color, or membership in a
language minority group."
Sabaugh's office wasn't involved
in the department's decision to
send poll monitors to her county,
she said.
The onlyexplanation inthe press
release of how the jurisdictions
were picked is that the Department
of Justice may ask for federal per-
sonnelto be sent "to areas that have
been certified for coverage by a fed-
eral court or the Attorney General.
The Department also may send
monitors from its own staff to elec-
tions in other jurisdictions."
The department would not
answer questions regarding why
Macomb was chosen.
Sabaugh said the reason could be
because of recent comments made
by James Carabelli, chairman of the

"I wish we were as big as Wayne County.
That would really have a huge impact."
Moore said he hasn't ruled out the possibil-
ity of a McCain victory in Michigan. He said
if the Republican candidate loses, he thinks
Democratic presidential nominee Barack
Obama's margin of victory will be narrower
than polls suggest. Most recent polling shows
the Democratic senator with a double-digit
lead in the state.
Moore told volunteers not to getcdiscouraged
by polls that put McCain behind in Michigan.
"I kept reminding them, we've won the
White House on a number of occasions without
winning Michigan," he said.
But on the southeast side of Grand Rapids,
Obama-Biden signs outnumber McCain-Palin
signs. Supporters of the Democratic ticket
there say Obama will win Michigan by a com-
manding margin.
While Bush defeated Kerry in Kent
County by 18 percentage points, the gap
between support for Republicans and
Democrats in the area narrowed consider-e
ably during the 2006 gubernatorial elec-
tion.
Republican Dick DeVos beat the Demo-
cratic incumbent Gov. Jennifer Granholm
by only 8 percent.
Traci Kornak, a volunteer for Obama's
campaign who coordinates canvassing and
phone banking at the Grand Rapids cam-
paign headquarters, said she is working to
build on the support Granholm gained in
Kent County.
She said she thinks the area will shift
towards the Democrats and no longer serve
as a reliable area for Republican presidential
contenders.
"It's very conservative, but being conserva-
tive doesn't deflect or change in any way what
real people feel here everyday," Kornak said of
the region. "Although conservative, we feel the.
economic pain."
Despite Grand Rapids's reputation for strong
conservatism, Kornak said the Obama cam-
paign in the city was so overwhelmed by vol-
unteers that it was forced to open seven other
offices to serve as locations for their "Get Out
the Vote" efforts. She said each location coor-
dinated between 500 and 1000 volunteers on
Saturday alone.
"Do I think that (the Republicans'
efforts) can counteract the momentum of
this campaign? Absolutely not," Kornak
said.

Macomb County Republican Party.
In an article published by the
Michigan Messenger in September,
Carabelli was quoted as saying, "We
will have a list of foreclosed homes
and will make sure people aren't
voting from those addresses."
Those comments have sparked
outrage from those who argue that a
foreclosure notice is not a sufficient
basis for challenging a person's resi-
dency and eligibilityto vote.
Carabelli, who said he couldn't
comment on the matter because
of his pending lawsuit against the
Michigan Messenger, told the Flint
Journal, "The story is not true. The
Michigan Messenger made itcup."
Sabaugh, who said she believes
using foreclosure lists to challenge
voters is "really wrong," said the
fallout from Carabelli's comments
is why the federal monitors will be
in Macomb.
Volunteers from both campaigns
saidtheirmainfocusnowwastomake
sure people vote on election day.
Lonsway, a McCain volunteers,
said that while it may be difficult to
change peoples' minds at this point,
if his fellow volunteers can get
Republicans out to the polls, they
could have a big impact on the race.
"If our turnout is high, then
we certainly will deliver Macomb
County for McCain and hopefully
have some influence on the rest of
the state," he said.
Keck, an Obama volunteer, said
Obama has strong campaign sup-
port in Macomb, but whether or not
people will vote is still unknown.
"If everyone that says they're for
Barack actually votes for him, he's
going to be the next president," he
said.
)eaker
lks faith,
-litics
LON From Page 1A
eable results if elected.
u come down to some details that
e prioritization and not just bum-
icker slogans," he said.
ugh Bailey said Republicans
ally tend to be better on issues of
anal righteousness" like abortion
personal sexual ethics," he said he
more closely with Democrats on
of economic equality like educa-
nd caring for the poor.
k junior John Lin, one of event's
izers, said the University's chap-
the Asian Intervarsity Christian
vship sponsored the event to offer
erent perspective on the intersec-
f politics and religion.
ople take this idea of religion and
in such a harmful way that isn't
t should be used," he said, citing
flammatory preachers that often
on the Diag as an example.
ley tried to distance Christian
s from partisanship and what is
called the "Christian Right."
hen we think about a Republican
irm or a Democratic platform or
ther platform, from a Christian
ective, we want to evaluate this on
asis of what it means to love God
ove our neighbor," he said in an
riew.
gineering junior Lily Li, who
led the lecture and described
if as an undecided voter, said she

d with Bailey's notion that each
has strengths for Christians.
was nice to realize that there's no
issue that will make or break my
' Li said. "I can't just look at the
onment, I can't just look at abor-
[ can't just look at gay rights. It's all
m, and it's more than that."
many of whom have pledged to skip
classes and work to volunteer. He
said he expects the actual number
of volunteers to be much higher.
"If we see remarkable turnout
in student precincts, we'll real-
locate those volunteers to other
districts throughout the state,"
he said.
Brady Smith, chair of the
University's chapter of College
Republicans, said his group will
be sending volunteers to the Ann
Arbor Republican campaignoffic-
es to make phone calls on behalf
of Republican candidates.
"I'm not a huge proponent of
having people skip class," Smith
said. "In terms of coordinated
efforts, they're a little bit difficult
to have."
Smith said the group instead is
having its members to encourage
their friends and neighbors to vote
for John McCain and other Repub-
lican candidates on an individual
basis.
Based on turn out at other Col-
lege Republicans events, Smith
said he expected about 30 people
to volunteer for the group through-
out the day on Election Day.
"When they can get a couple of
hours in, we're more than happy to
have them," he said. "That's some-
thing we're excited to have hap-
pen."

City one of nation's
most Democratic
By LINDY STEVENS
Daily StaffReporter
DETROIT - With the presi-
dential election a day away, talk
among parishioners at Detroit's
Leland Missionary Baptist
Church was more politically
charged than usual after Sun-
day's sermon. And judging by
the number of Obama-Biden
bumper stickers in the park-
ing lot and "Change We Can
Believe In" buttons pinned on
purses and suits, churchgoers
are making no secret of who
they're supporting in tomor-
row's election.
With more than 600,000 eli-
gible voters, Detroit represents
the single largest voting bloc in
the state. It typically accounts for
between 8 and 10 percent of all
votes cast in Michigan on Elec-
tion Day.
Magnifyingitselectoralpower,
Detroit is one of America's most
heavily Democratic-leaning cit-
ies. Nearly94 percent of the city's
voters cast ballots for Democratic
candidate John Kerry in the 2004
presidential election and 96 per-
cent of straight-ticket ballots
were cast as straight Democratic
tickets in the city. According to
Simone Lightfoot, head of the
National Voter Fund for the
NAACP in Detroit, that Demo-
cratic voting record makes the
city a regular target of voter sup-
pression efforts.
"Voter suppression has come
primarily from Republicans
out of state or outside of Wayne
County coming in and serving in
the capacity of a poll challenger,
which they legally have the right
to do," Lightfoot said. "But it has
generally been used as an intimi-
dating factor or a way to slow up
the lines."
With Illinois Democratic
Sen. Barack Obama, the first-
ever black presidential nomi-
nee, on the ballot, Lightfoot
and others are working to dis-
pel questions and confusion
from inexperienced voters who
could be confronted in Detroit's
precincts.
The Motor City saw more than

328,000 votes cast, or just 51 per-
centofthe city'sregisteredvoters,
in2004. Butwitharecord-setting
1.3 million voters registered in
Wayne County, and the chance to
elect the nation's first black presi-
dent, most analysts are projecting
enormous, record-breaking turn-
out in Detroit tomorrow.
Lightfoot said those assump-
tions have drawn misinformation
campaigns,includingsome giving
voters wrong polling locations,
false ID requirements and incor-
rect voting times.
This election comes on the
heels of a 2004 election season
that saw a number of fraudulent
activities, including when for-
mer City Clerk Jackie Currie sent
absentee ballots to Detroit vot-
ers who hadn't requested them,
and when a missing ballot box
was found in an Detroit election
worker's car. City election offi-
cials will be working against a
history of operational problems
on Election Day.
"Many of the laws and regu-
lations that are made at the
state level are made for smaller
populated voting blocks and
they sort of force Detroit to fit
in that box," Lightfoot said. "So
administratively, they're hav-
ing to do things that other areas
don't have to do in the same time
frame."
Associate Political Science
Prof. Vince Hutchings said turn-
out among black voters could
largely determine the election's
results.
"Even though we think of
Michigan as a blue state that will
go for the Democrats again this
year, if you just look at the exit
polls from 2004, you'll find that
most white voters in this state
voted for George Bush," said
Hutchings, an expert on race and
politics. "Kerry was able to carry
the state in 2004 on the strength
of the black vote, which is very
much heavily concentrated in
Detroit." .
Though both Obama and
Republican presidential nominee
Sen. John McCain have aban-
doned their campaign efforts in
Michigan, Hutchings said Obama
will need to rely on Detroit voters
to secure a victory in the state.
"So goes Detroit, so goes the
state," Hutchings said.

CAMPAIGN
From Page 1A
"It was electric throughout the
day," Styer said.
Styer expects another 80 vol-
unteers to contact students today
and remind them to vote, adding
that he expects every University
student in the Obama campaign's
database of voters to be contacted
today.
But the real push begins tonight
when the College Democrats will
host a midnight rally at the Mich-
igan Union featuring the Ann
Arbor-based band My Dear Disco
and prominent state Democrats,
including Gov. Jennifer Granholm
and Sen. Carl Levin.
Styer said the rally will serve to
motivate College Democrats mem-
bers, as did a similar event in 2006,
when Granholm rallied the group
at midnight the day before voting
began during her gubernatorial re-
election bid.
"That was the defining moment
of my freshman year - Jennifer
Granholm rallying the troops on
Election Day," Styer said. "We're
hoping to capture that same ener-
gy."
After the rally, College Demo-
crats will blanket the campus with
flyers and signs for the Democratic
candidate, kicking off the group's

SAID ALSALAH/Daily
(L-R)College Dems chair Nathaniel Eli Coats Styer, Fiona Nowlin and Sarah Kaviany
prepare some campaign posters in support of Barack Obama in Mason Hall Sunday.

Election Day activities.
Starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow,
College Democrats volunteers
will be sent to every student-
heavy precinct. Every precinct
will then be canvassed again at 2
p.m. and 4 p.m. Styer said regis-

tered voters will be contacted by
the volunteers in person or on the
phone until they've confirmed
they've voted.
Styer said more than 100 stu-
dents have signed up to work for
the campaign on Election Day,

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