Election law has changed dramatically.

What is the difference between a primary and a caucus?

Throughout the season of Curious About Civics.

We've looked at the ways that people interact with their government, and one of the most important ways to do that is by voting.

There's a lot to vote on officials, funding proposals, policy changes, and there's more elections in just the November general election.

I met with the Ingham County Clerk, Barb Byrum to learn more about Michigan elections.

I've been thinking about elections and at first its pretty straightforward.

People vote.

The votes are counted.

And then the winners are announced.

But after thinking about it its just like theres a lot more types of elections.

So like what are they?

Election administration is, very complicated, quite frankly.

But I love the fact that you're thinking about elections.

So, yes, there are there are a few different types of elections.

So typically you think about the general election, which is in November, right?

But there's also the primary election, which is in August.

And then there are special elections.

So one define date for a special election is in May.

Those are set election days.

But the governor could call a special election as well, which could potentially be outside of those days.

Typically, a May specia election is a local jurisdiction a school district would place a question on the ballot, typically for funding.

And then an August primary election is when Democrats or Republicans are running against each other to then move on to the November general election.

So you said something about a special election what could cause this need for a special election?

Yeah, a special election could be caused if someone vacates office for whatever reason or if a local jurisdiction wants to place a question on the ballot, they can, place that on a May ballot, but they cannot call a special election just for a question.

So whats the difference between federal, state, and local elections?

So while they're all on the same ballot first, the federal elections will be up at the top, followed by the state elections and then the local elections.

Local elections are your county commissioners your city council members sometimes your school districts will have candidates running for school district.

Your state elections are goin to be your governor, your state representative, state senator, that sort of thing.

And then, of course, your federal elections are going to be the president, U.S.

Senate, U.S.

House.

Okay so yeah its like, so its like a hierarchy?

Yeah, yeah.

So, the higher the office, the higher on the ballot you will find those candidates.

Okay so federal, state, and local elections are separate elections that cover different things.

But why are they on the same ballot?

Why not have separate ballots for each one?

Yeah so federal, state and local, candidates end up on the same ballot because that's that' how Michigan election law is set and state election law controls the the election.

So, federal candidates are found on the same ballot as state candidates.

It's it's more cost effective, and it is within state law to do it that way.

And it just makes sense.

You know, when you're looking, towards voter participation, it's always good to have them all on the same ballot.

Because sometimes people are more engaged for, say, a presidential election than they are fo maybe a city council election.

So why do some ballots hav more things on them than others?

So the August even year ballots are often the longest ballots as precinct delegates and everything else that are on those ballots.

And the May special election is often the smallest ballot that you will see.

Because that's usually just a question or a few.

And the November general election ballot is a is a hefty ballot, but not nearly as big as the August ballot.

And and what what determines what's o the ballot is a term of office.

If an office is up for someone to be elected, the boom, candidates start filing.

It also is dependent upon local jurisdictions.

Placing question is not up to the county clerk.

It's up to all of thos jurisdictions within the county that choose to place questions on the ballot.

Lets look at some examples of different terms of office.

Some positions, like members of the U.S.

House of Representatives have two year terms.

So those positions are voted on every two years.

Other roles like the president, have four year terms.

And some even have six year terms, like U.S.

Senators.

When elections happe sometimes there is an incumbent, the person already in the role and running for reelection.

Other times there are only new candidates but how are these new candidates chosen?

I know there are primaries and caucuses but Im not sure what the difference is.

What is the difference between a primary and a caucus?

So the difference between a caucus and a primary election is a caucus is when, a bunch of individuals from the same party affiliation make a decision.

What we see in Michigan is when the Michigan Republican Party and the Michigan Democratic Party had their conventions, their caucuses and under their political party rules, will make the nomination for a candidate to appear on the November ballot.

Under the Michigan Constitution, we see that for attorney general, Secretary of State, and three university board of trustees, a primary electio is when candidates file to run for that part nomination on the August ballot.

So you'll see that for state rep, state Senate, you'll see it for count commission, that sort of thing.

And then the the winne of that August primary election moves on to the November general election.

So that's the difference.

So are elections just for appointing people to different positions?

So elections are for electing people to serve and represent our community, but also elections, give voters an opportunity to have a say in how our schools are funded, how our parks are funded.

Sometimes ordinances are placed on ballots.

So elections are for voters to have their voices heard.

For years, voters had wanted to see same day voter registration, no reason, absentee voting.

All of these increased access to the ballot box issues.

So a grassroots supporters placed a referendum on the ballot, a question on the ballot to change our constitution.

And that's what they did.

They passed it, which is why we now see so muc increased access to the ballot box is because voters approved those changes.

So that's a referendum that can also be placed on the ballot.

Certainly, changes that we wish to see.

If we don't see it happening in the legislature, we can we can bring it to the ballot box.

So are all elections just two choices?

All elections are not just two choices.

So, certainly a ye or no question is two choices.

But for the August primary election, you'll have numerous candidates running for their party nomination to move on t the November general election.

The November general election will have Democrats and Republicans and thats two choices, but it may have other minor party candidates, and they will always have a option for a write in candidate to file.

So a write in candidate ha to file with the county clerk.

Typically they missed the deadline to file as a candidate, and voters could write their name in in the specified location, fill in the bubble and vote for that write in candidate.

So it is more than two choices.

So some scenarios have two choices and others have more depending on which election it is and on how many candidates are running.

But how are all the rules around elections created?

Were they in the state constitution when it was written?

So were all the rules of elections established in the So were all the rules of elections established in the constitution when it was first written?

So election law has changed dramatically just in my 13 years as being county clerk, for example, no reason absentee voting, which allows voters no longer to have to provide a reason to obtain an absentee ballot.

Absentee voting means you can have a ballot mailed to you, or you can obtain a ballot from your local clerk.

Outside of the early vote window and outside of Election Day.

Right And it's it's a regular ballot.

And once you have that ballot, you have even more options.

You can mail it back, you can place i at your local clerk's drop box.

You can take it to your early vote site and feed it through the tabulator.

You can take it to your Election Day site during Election Day voting an feed it through the tabulator.

There we have same day voter registration, which means you can go to your local clerk's office on election day, register to vote, obtain a ballot, and vote that ballot.

We also have early voting now in Michigan.

That's also protected in the Michigan Constitution, which allows for a minimum of nine days of early voting for voters.

So this is typically no your regular polling location.

This might be a consolidated site for early voting.

But that's an option as well.

And then we have the same, election day, voting options as well.

We now have protections for military and overseas voters, a few additional days to get ballots back to their local clerk afte a polls close on Election Day.

We've seen changes in recall, legislation and recall procedures as a result of some changes in statute.

So election administration is determined by constitution, statute and then local jurisdiction filing requirements.

But it's important to note that legislators did not do this.

The Secretary of State did not do this.

Voters did this.

All of those initiatives that I mentioned were constitutional changes that were done by voters.

These were question that were placed on the ballot and passed overwhelmingly by voters to have those protections in the Constitution.

So let's review.

Elections are how voters voices are heard.

Federal, state and local elections are separate, but they appear on the same ballot with federal elections at the top and local elections at the bottom.

The length of the ballot is determined by which positions are up for reelection and how many question have been placed on the ballot.

State election laws control the elections and the rules about how they are run.

There's three main times for elections the general election in November, the primary election in Augus and a special election in May.

When it's time to vote, Michigan has things like same-day, voter registration, early voting and dropboxes to help increase access to the ballot box.

These policies were passed by voters and added to Michigan's constitution.

Thanks for watching.

Curious about Civics.