Primary set for Tuesday

Primary set for Tuesday Presidential race on the ballot

by Tom Coombe

The drama may be over and the general election candidates may already be a foregone conclusion, but the presidential race does take center state Tuesday in Ely and across Minnesota.

What voters likely won’t be happy with is having to declare what party’s ballot they want to vote on.

There are three choices, Democrat, Republican and Legalize Marijuana. Judges will need to know which party in order to hand voters the correct ballot.

While absentee voting has gone on for weeks, polling places in Ely and the surrounding townships will be open for the state’s presidential primary.

Being held a week after sparsely attended precinct caucuses (see related stories), the primary doesn’t figure to have much in the way of interest or intrigue.

Thus far, former President Donald Trump has swept to victory in the early caucus and primary states and turned back his remaining serious challenger - South Carolina’s Nikki Haley - by a better than two-to-one margin in this week’s Michigan primary.

There’s even less at stake in the primary on the Democrat side, as President Joe Biden has cleaned up against token opposition - including Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips - thus far.

Tuesday’s primary is also part of “Super Tuesday,” as more than a dozen states hold primary elections that were set up to whittle the field and establish front-runners in the contests for the major party presidential nominations.

Instead, those contests appear settled with both Trump and Biden seemingly on the way to a rematch of the divisive, contentious and close 2020 contest - which was decided by a mere 42,000 votes in the three closest states.

In Ely, City Hall will also be open for early voting on Saturday, Feb. 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., before regular balloting begins March 3, at the Ely Senior Center, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Other polling places in the area are also open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The primary comes a week before the annual township elections on Tuesday, March 12, while Minnesota holds its state primary election in August.

It all leads to the general election in November with the presidential contest, a U.S. House race, state legislative, city and school board elections.