Mich. Appeals Court Blocks Jan. 15 Primary

The Michigan Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court's ruling that the Jan. 15 presidential primary law is unconstitutional.

In a 2-1 ruling, Judges Patrick Meter and Donald Owens said the law clearly allows information from a publicly funded election to be used for private purposes. The law lets the Michigan Democratic and Republican parties keep track of voters' names and whether they took a Democratic or GOP primary ballot but gives no public access to that information.

The ruling was a blow to state officials who had hoped the Court of Appeals would let the Jan. 15 primary go forward.

The delay also is affecting the nation's second presidential contest, the New Hampshire primary. New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner says he won't set the date of his state's presidential primary until it's clear what's going to happen with Michigan's election.

A spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, whose office had appealed the lower court ruling, said no decision had been reached on whether to take the case to the Michigan Supreme Court.

"We're disappointed with the court's decision," Matt Frendewey said.

Lawmakers could fix the law so it would pass legal muster, but so far have failed to get legislation past both houses. State GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis said after the ruling was released that it's up to Democrats to act.

"Right now, the only thing standing between a presidential primary and voters is the Democrat (sic) Caucus in the Michigan House of Representatives," he said in a statement. "There is strong bipartisan support for a presidential primary on January 15, but time is running out."