Fenton's Feb. 28 Voters Guide

When you leave your home to vote Tuesday, there are a couple things you should know.

The first is that if you are a Fenton Township resident, all six precincts will vote in the band room of . If you are a Fenton resident, all five precincts will vote in the .

You will be asked "Which election would you like to vote in?" or you will be asked to request a Republican Party or a Democratic Party ballot.

The Republican Party ballot will include several primary presidential candidates, even some who have withdrawn because they missed the deadline to be taken off the ballot.

It will look something like this:

Meanwhile, the Democratic ballot will include only President Barack Obama.

Both ballots will include candidates for the 51st District Michigan House of Representative candidates , and . Fenton Patch will introduce you to these candidates in the next few days.

There is a third ballot option as well. You can bypass the presidential primary and receive a ballot with just the 51st District candidates.

Thomas Broecker, deputy clerk, expects a higher than normal turnout with the special election on the ballot.

"If I had to guess, I'd say 20 percent," Broecker said. "That might be a little optimistic."

He said usual turnout for a presidential primary is in the teens. Broecker added that there was a 30 percent turnout in the

Meanwhile, clerk Jennifer Naismith said she expects an average or lower turnout.

"It's hard to say, but you can usually base it on the amount of absentee ballots that go out," she said.

Naismith said 143 ballots have gone out with 78 returned. She said that's a bit on the low side since around 1,000 went out in November with the Paul Scott recall on the ballot. She expects somewhere around 15 percent.

1. When: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28
2. Where: If you are a Fenton Township resident, all six precincts will vote in the band room of . If you are a Fenton resident, all five precincts will vote in the .
3. Absentee voting: Available at your municipal building by 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27, or by mail if ballot was requested.
4. Party choice: Any registered voter can vote in either party's presidential primary (President Obama is the only Democratic choice, aside from "Uncommitted.")  , each voter's choice of party -- not private candidate preference -- remains on a public record in Lansing for 22 months. The choice has no bearing on how anyone can vote Nov. 6 in the general election.    
5. Republican delegates: 30 will be allocated according to each candidate's proportional share of votes. To be nominated Aug. 29 in Tampa, a candidate needs 1,114 delegates. So far, Romney has 105 delegates; Rick Santorum 71; Newt Gingrich 29; and Ron Paul 18.