Both Republican and Democratic voters turned out en masse last Tuesday providing yet another glaring example, among the rapidly expanding list of examples, that voter ID laws do not disenfranchise voters. Michigan broke a record set in 1972:
With more than 2.4 million voters turning out for Michigan's presidential primary on Tuesday, the record set in 1972, when 1.9 million people cast ballots, was shattered.
Turnout in areas of Michigan was so high Tuesday that some clerks were reporting that some precincts were running out of ballots. The high number was fueled by a huge increase in absentee voting this year over previous elections.
Clerks ran out of ballots in Redford, Ingham County and in one precinct in Kent County. Additional ballots were quickly sent to those precincts, but some voters reported having to wait for more than an hour in line until more ballots were delivered.
Turnout was so high at a Redford Township polling station, Precinct 25, that the station ran out of Democratic ballots for at least half an hour, an organizer said.
States with voter ID laws continue to see record turnouts this presidential cycle on both sides of the aisle. Like most states, Michigan, typically classified a swing state, did not seem to have an issue with its citizens finding and using their ID.
Mississippi also had strong turnout at the polls, with no significant issues reported:
"Voting's been pretty steady," Smithka said. "We've had a pretty good turnout. No real problems with voter ID. A couple people forgot their IDs and had to go home and retrieve them, but other than that it's been pretty smooth."
Alma Myers, who was in charge of the Walthall School Precinct on Southern Avenue, said everything was fine.
"Things are going pretty good," she said. The precinct had serviced 171 voters by late afternoon.
Additional states with voter ID laws, specifically Missouri, Florida and North Carolina, have presidential primaries tomorrow. Given the turnout in early voting in North Carolina, it should be another banner day.