In Michigan, voting in the primary doesn't require the voter to register with a party, but the voter is limited to selecting candidates within either the Republican or Democratic party, East Lansing city clerk Marie Wicks said.

"The most important thing that voters need to know is that you don't need to be registered with (a) party," Wicks said. "And it's important to know that it is a partisan primary, so you can only vote for one party or the other."

If unregistered to vote in general, people have 30 days before an election to register and become eligible to vote, Wicks said.

Because students often move and forget to update their voter information, she said it's important students understand that they can vote one last time at their prior polling location, but not if they've moved outside of East Lansing more than 60 days prior to the election.

For example, she said if a student registered to vote when they were living in the dorms, then moved to an off-campus apartment in East Lansing but didn't update their voter information, the student still can vote at the polling location they're registered to. But, Wicks said, at the polling location the student will be asked to change their voter information for the next election.

Wicks said it gets tricky when students move to an off-campus location that has an East Lansing mailing address but really is in a township, such as The Lodges of East Lansing.

If a student moved to such a location less than 60 days before an election, they still can vote at their prior polling location one last time, she said.

"We want to make sure that students have a very, very positive experience voting," Wicks said. "We want to make sure they get to the right location on voting day."

At the polling location, voters must show one form of photo identification, criteria met by showing a driver's license or MSU student ID, Wicks said. And if a person is registered but forgets to bring photo ID, they are allowed to sign an affidavit, allowing them to vote.

Voters can review an online sample ballot by entering in their information at michigan.gov/vote.

Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 5.

CATA Millage Renewal Proposal

During the primary election voters will decide on renewing Capital Area Transportation Authority's, or CATA's, millage funding, which accounts for more than 38 percent of their total operation funding, a CATA official said.

Although the current millage does not expire until 2015, CATA marketing director Laurie Robison said the transportation authority is seeking early renewal because a failure at the polls in 2015 would result in "grave repercussions," such as a reduction in services.

"It is extremely important," Robison said. "Without this renewal, services as we know it today cannot continue."

During fiscal year 2013, CATA serviced 11.86 million trips, Robison said. 

If the millage fails at the polls both this year and in 2015, many of those trips would be absorbed back into single-passenger methods of transportation, congesting roads, she said.

According to CATA's website, a resident with a home value of $100,000 would pay $150 a year for the millage.

Nov. 4 General Election

The upcoming gubernatorial election in Michigan puts many seats in the state House and Senate up for grabs. The Michigan election also will decide a new governor, 14 U.S. representatives and one U.S. senator.

Oct. 6 is the last day to register for the general election.

Proposals can be viewed on michigan.gov/sos. Following the primary election, final candidates can also be viewed there.