Reply #13: MI: Some Upset By Non-Voter Letter [View All]

[livvy]

08/04/2006
Some upset by non-voter letter
Stuart Frohm , Midland Daily News

Some Midland County residents recently got mail from East Lansing on blue paper, listing whether they and their neighbors voted in the primary and general election two years ago.

That disclosure bothered, irritated or angered some recipients and others here and elsewhere in Michigan.

Some might be discouraged from voting, Midland County Clerk Karen Holcomb said. "I don't understand what its purpose is."

East Lansing political consultant Mark Grebner isn't surprised by the hundreds of messages of objection and concern his company received after sending the mail.

He explained that:

* The mail, paid for with money provided through two Yale University professors, is part of a "huge study" of what motivates voter turnout.

* Four differing messages were sent, with 180,000 Michigan households getting one or another of them.

Approximately 1,800 of those households are in Midland County, Grebner guessed. Some of those got a version saying whether they and their neighbors voted in the 2004 primary, general election, neither or both.

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http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17014307&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=6