Republicans debate best date for 2016 Mich. presidential primary

The Michigan GOP primary marked
 a key moment in 2012 for Mitt Romney.

As the state Republicans anguish over what to do with the Michigan 2016 presidential primary election, a really bad idea has emerged -- a closed primary.
A closed primary, with only Republicans allowed to participate in choosing the party's presidential nominee, would cost taxpayers millions of dollars while keeping independents -- the largest bloc in the U.S. electorate -- away from the polls.
Sometimes closed primaries require that voters sign a card vowing that they are a Republican. But the GOP may go one step further, limiting the primary to card-carrying, dues-paying party members.
Apparently that is the approach favored by the woman who is favored to become the next GOP chair at this weekend's convention, Ronna Romney McDaniel.
Some of the tea party types favor an Iowa-style caucus, which is even more exclusionary, though it is financed by the party and doesn't involve taxpayer dollars.

Beyond the method used to selected the state GOP’s 59 convention delegates, the spot on the calendar also serves as a contentious issue.
Some want a March 15 date; others prefer a more relevant position of March 1. As Dennis Lennox explains in his column today for The (Mount Pleasant) Morning Sun, both dates present potential problems. In addition, "internal Republican dynamics, complicated by mercenaries of all-but-declared
presidential candidates, are making this much more complicated than it should be," he noted.

Lennox, a Republican activist, wrote:
"... The state rules developed by outgoing Republican Party chairman Bob Schostak only provide for a winner-takes-all method of allocating delegates if the winning candidate achieves a majority of the primary vote — an all but
impossible electoral hurdle. Absent a majority win, delegates are proportionately awarded to presidential candidates based on the results in the state’s 14 congressional districts.
"Because the latter scenario is much more likely to occur, many Republicans want the legislation’s primary date changed to March 1, the first opportunity to hold an early contest in compliance with national rules.
 "Not only would this increase the likelihood of Michigan being just as relevant as it was in 2012, when the Wolverine State was eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s Waterloo, but it would also alleviate major logistical concerns."

Those logistical concerns center on the state-mandated March 15 start for local Boards of Review, the process which allows for homeowners to appeal their property tax assessments. In the GOP-dominated Legislature, a bill  passed by the Senate and awaiting approval in the House would establish the primary on that March 15 date.
Denise Graves, a prominent Republican and the clerk of a small township in Genesee County, wrote this on Facebook today: "This is a terrible bill. In my township, my most
experienced and most dedicated four election inspectors and precinct chairmen are also appointed members of the Board of Review. This makes it logistically very difficult to administer an election. I am sure many township clerks will have this problem if our legislators pass this bill. Elections are getting more difficult to administer."