Court Rejects Early Michigan Primary

A state appeals court on Friday dealt a blow to Michigan political leaders' hopes of holding a presidential primary on Jan. 15.

In a 2-1 ruling, Judges Patrick Meter and Donald Owens objected that a law recently passed by the Legislature setting up the primary would let the state political parties keep track of voters' names and whether they took Democratic or GOP primary ballots but give no public access to that information.

Michigan had at one time tentatively scheduled Democratic caucuses for Feb. 9, but state officials and Gov. Jennifer Granholm have tried to push up the date to Jan. 15. If no primary is held, Republicans will make their choices at a Jan. 25-26 party convention. Democrats also could move up their caucuses, although no date has been set.

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