In Marquette, Detroit, voters opine on process
Michigan’s a big place, with nearly 10 million citizens who have varying views on what is good politics and what isn’t. Bridge sent contributors Taylor Trammell and Christie Bleck to the northern (Marquette) and southern (Detroit) margins of the state to collect voters’ views on Election Day:
Marquette – voter information
"I seemed to get enough information. They got the ads everywhere. They got them on the Internet now, so it's pretty easy to find everything. I pretty much knew what I was going to do from the very beginning” – Marshall Hewitt.
Detroit – voter information
“I’m with UAW, so I’m actually voting straight with UAW and whatever is the correct thing to enforce and that’s the way I’m going” -- Sharmayne Floid.
Marquette – voter information
"I was pretty much satisfied. I just moved up here (from West Virginia). My husband and I discussed (information on the proposals)” – Kim Johnson.
Detroit – ballot proposals
“I’m voting against the background checks on the schools. The home health care, I’m voting yes on that because they should keep the nurses going to homes and if the senior citizens don’t want to be in nursing homes, they have a right to stay home and get home care” -- Shayvonne Dean.
Marquette – ballot proposals
"I did do a little research, so I think I was fairly well informed in that, through the Internet. My father, for example, is a professor at (Northern Michigan University), so his views on all the issues about unions, especially Proposal 2, he was rather passionate about” – Samuel Graves.
Detroit – Michigan’s election system
“Campaigns are campaigns. That’s how they run. The main thing is that I know who I want to vote for and I know what I want to vote for because I know it is what it is. So nothing frustrated me” – Donna Rhodes.
Marquette – Michigan’s election system
"This was the first time I voted in Michigan (I'm from North Carolina). I felt it was fairly straightforward. I like the fact they used paper ballots instead of the touch screen. People are confused with the touch screen” -- Nikki Davis.
Taylor Trammell is the 2012-13 Center for Michigan journalism student fellow. She is pursuing a journalism degree at Wayne State University.
Christie Bleck has worked for Michigan newspapers, such as the Lansing State Journal and Niles Daily Star, since the mid-1980s. She is now a freelance writer based in Marquette.
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