Last Friday, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation setting the date of the Michigan presidential primary to March 8, 2016.
Senate Bills 44 and 45, sponsored by state Sen. David Robertson, move the statewide presidential primary from the fourth Tuesday in February to the second Tuesday in March going forward. The bills also move the regular February election to the second Tuesday in March during years when Michigan holds a statewide presidential primary.
"Presidential primaries are an important part of our democratic process," Snyder said. "This legislation ensures Michiganders can exercise their right to vote while ensuring no extra costs are incurred to our local governments to administer presidential primaries."
The bills put Michigan in line with the Republican National Committee's new rules for scheduling primary elections and caucuses. If Michigan remained in violation with the new rules, the state's number of delegates could have been reduced by 80 percent.
In the past, the Democratic Party has opted to select delegates using a caucus process.
Michigan has regularly held statewide presidential primary elections since 1972.
The bills are Public Acts 1 and 2 of 2015.
For additional information on this and other legislation, visit legislature.michigan.gov.
Published: Tue, Feb 24, 2015
