Lawsuit filed challenging Michigan presidential primary

LANSING, Mich. --A lawsuit was filed Wednesdasy asking a judge to keep Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary from going forward until issues are resolved over who will have access to voting records.

Mark Grebner, head of an East Lansing political consulting company that sells voter lists, filed the lawsuit along with former Detroit Free Press political columnist Hugh McDiarmid, alternative newspaper publisher Berl Schwartz and several other plaintiffs.

They're unhappy the state Democratic and Republican parties will be allowed to keep track of voters' names and whether they took a Democratic or GOP ballot in the primary. No public record of that information will be kept, however.

Grebner wants a judge to prevent Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land from refusing FOIA requests for the information. He also wants a judge to order Land to determine the fair market value of the voter list and require the state parties to pay that amount once an agreement is reached with them restricting how the information is used.

"It's just frightening to suggest that the records of a public election are the private property of the political parties for their profit," Grebner said Wednesday.

Party leaders had expected a challenge from Grebner, who buys voter files from the state, adds his own information and then sells voter lists to candidates and other who want to know where likely Republican or Democratic voters live.

Michigan voters do not have to ask for a specific party's ballot in most elections, so voting records usually don't show a party preference. Grebner said having such information would be very valuable to many people, not just the political parties.

Meanwhile Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin again suggested holding Democratic party caucuses in Michigan on the same day as the New Hampshire primary.

New Hampshire has not yet set a primary date, though it is required by state law to hold its primary at least seven days before any other. That raises the possibility of a December vote now that Iowa Democrats are considering holding their caucus on Jan. 3 or Jan. 5.

Levin and other Democratic leaders in Michigan have sent three letters to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean demanding to know why New Hampshire and Iowa won't be threatened by the DNC with the loss of all their national convention delegates if they move up their elections, while Florida and Michigan are being told they will.

But Levin also said it's unlikely the Michigan primary would be scratched in favor of a Democratic caucus.

"The governor ... has basically decided that it's going to be on the 15th. My own belief is that we ought to keep that option of an earlier caucus open as a way of putting pressure on Dean to answer the question and on New Hampshire," Levin said at a meeting with reporters.

Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said the governor and most other Democratic leaders want to stick with a primary.

"Nothing has changed. The governor supports the primary on January 15," Boyd said. "It's important that issues important to Michigan are relevant in the selection of the next president of the United States."

Debbie Dingell, a DNC member who has worked with Levin to give Michigan a greater voice in the early stages of the presidential nominating process, said she and other Democratic leaders hope to speak this weekend with Dean about the DNC's decree keeping Democratic presidential candidates from campaigning in Michigan and Florida because they set their primaries earlier than Feb. 5.

Dean will be in Dearborn attending the Arab American National Leadership Conference.

Although all eight Democratic presidential candidates have agreed not to campaign in the state, three Democrats will speak to the Arab American Institute conference because it's considered a national event, Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said.

Candidate Bill Richardson is to address the conference Sunday morning, while Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are scheduled to speak Friday night. Some of the other Democratic candidates may appear on video.

Ron Paul was the only Republican presidential candidate scheduled to appear in person, according to the conference agenda.

------

EDITOR's NOTE: Kathy Barks Hoffman heads the Lansing AP bureau and has covered Michigan politics since 1986.