“It may impact McCain’s ability to beat (former Arkansas Gov.) Mike Huckabee,” Sarpolus said. “And now Romney has a chance to be a big player on Super Tuesday like never before. This is very big for Romney.”

Despite Clinton’s having earned Michigan’s support, Craig Ruff, senior policy fellow at Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants, said her win isn’t a factor in the Democratic race because she faced no competition.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who were represented by “uncommitted,” were Clinton’s main competitors, but removed their names from the state’s ballot when it moved its primary. The move violated Democratic National Committee rules, and the party stripped Michigan of its convention delegates.

“Nobody, unfortunately for Michigan, took this seriously,” Ruff said. “This gives her no bounce.”

Steve Ross, state of Michigan coordinator of Students for Barack Obama, said he is pleased with the amount of Obama and Edwards supporters who voted “uncommitted.”

“I think what we’re seeing nationwide, not just here in Michigan, is people want change and are more or less tired of the status quo and think we can do better,” he said. “We can have a candidate like Barack Obama who represents change.”

Many political analysts said they expected Democratic voters to have an impact on the Republican race because Obama and Edwards were off the ballot, but that wasn’t the case. Eight percent of people voting in the Republican primary identified with the Democratic Party, compared to the 18 percent who cast ballots when McCain won in 2000, Ruff said.

He said the only thing clear about this presidential race is there is no clarity.

“Republican voters have not locked in. That may be true too on the Democratic side,” he said. “Voters this year are very angry and cynical, and neither Republicans or Democrats or independents have found a saint to lead us out of the wilderness.”

East Lansing residents came out of the woodwork to take part in the primary.

Fran Card, an election official in Brody Hall, said the precinct had a good turnout with 225 votes cast.

The behavior of a few students, however, was unexpected.

“We had three people who wrote in Obama’s name inappropriately,” said Bill Rittenberg, chairman of Brody Hall precinct.

A memory pack wouldn’t connect with a machine that sends votes to Ingham County. The memory packs record the votes cast at each precinct in the city.

“This has never happened before,” East Lansing City Clerk Sharon Reid said. “We ride on the back of the county’s system, so there’s something about the connection that doesn’t always work.”

These hiccups are all a part of the tallying process, she said.