Concerns arise during 2024 Michigan Presidential Primary Election
FOX 2 (WJBK) - Various voters across metro Detroit say their privacy was violated before they even voted in the Michigan Presidential Primary Election on Tuesday.
According to voters who called into FOX 2, their personal party preferences became public knowledge once they had to declare whether they wanted a Republican or a Democratic ballot.
Although it is the law to declare what ballot voters would like, voters say the information was openly available for other workers and voters in line to see.
The issue is especially concerning to voters given heightened political tensions, they said.
At the Detroit Pistons Performance Center Tuesday night, where ballots are being handled, FOX 2 asked Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson why voters cannot simply make their choices privately on one simple ballot.
"Certainly, we can look into changing the law in the future, I think, if citizens and lawmakers are interested in going in that route," Benson said. "For now, we administer elections as the law requires and that’s what you saw play out today."
Benson added that voter turnout was steady – with an uptick in the evening.
"To the extent that any voter was concerned or uncomfortable by the way in which the law was applied by our local election officials today, we were there to respond and help work through the process to make sure people felt safe and protected."
However, some were still not happy.
"There’s a pile of democratic ballots, there’s a pile of Republican ballots – clearly right out there," said FOX 2's Ryan Ermani. "There was a couple of people in line… and you can clearly see which ballot the person is handing you. So, I never had to say verbally which party I was voting for, but you could clearly see which ballot the poll workers are picking up to give to you.
"(It's) human nature," Ermani added. "Even I looked around at a couple of people, and you could clearly see what box they checked, which ballot people were getting – and I just thought that was pretty insane."
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