Voting Uncommitted / Write-In on Presidential Primary Ballot

• Each major party’s candidate list includes the term ‘uncommitted.’  When a voter selects ‘uncommitted’ this implies that they are exercising a ‘party vote’ but are not committed to any of the candidates listed on the ballot. The uncommitted vote position does not rotate like other candidate names and remains in the position above the write-in line.
• When you choose ‘uncommitted’ you will need to fill in the oval or square next to that selection in order for it to count. If you do NOT fill in the oval or square, your choice will not count.

INSTRUCTIONS: For the office of President, you may vote for a candidate or you may vote "uncommitted."

TO VOTE: Completely darken the oval opposite each choice as shown:

• Your vote is counted as ‘uncommitted.’ You may wish to view previous presidential primary data in your county to observe how these votes are tallied and recorded, like that which is provided below.
  
  
  
  
• With enough votes cast to ‘uncommitted’ the party can send delegates to the national nominating convention who are not committed to a specific candidate. (MCL 168.619)
• What the delegates do at the national nominating convention depends upon the political party’s rules.

• Yes. Your vote will be counted as a write-in vote for a candidate if that candidate has filed a declaration of intent to run as a write-in candidate by Friday, February 16. Otherwise, it will be considered ‘unresolved’ when it comes to applying the vote to a race.

• To vote for a candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot, write or place the name of that candidate in the blank space provided and completely darken the oval or square next to the name. Do not cast a write-in vote for a candidate whose name is already printed on the ballot for that office.
• Be careful not to write anywhere outside the space for write-in candidates. Marking your ballot outside the designated spaces or bubbles may spoil the ballot.

• A spoiled ballot is a ballot that has been marked incorrectly and is not counted by election officials.
• A ballot might also be over-voted for one or more races. Voters are instructed that they must not vote for more candidates than indicated under each office title. Doing so results in an over-vote and the voter’s selection or selections for that office are not counted. If you do this during early voting or on Election Day and would like to correct this error, you can ask that an election inspector mark your ballot as spoiled. The inspector will then issue you a new ballot.

• If you would like to spoil an absentee ballot you have returned, please contact your clerk’s office no later than Friday, February 16. They will issue you a new ballot.
• If you choose not to correct your ballot, your vote in that particular race will not be counted if you vote for more candidates than indicated under each office title. Your selections for other races will be counted.

• The use of write-in stickers is not permitted due to the potential to result in damage to the precinct tabulators. Please write in the name instead.