On Friday afternoon, approximately 26,000 unreported votes from four counties were added to Michigan’s unofficial results, changing the apparent winners in some races.
State officials said they are unaware of any changes in race outcomes in Kent and Kalamazoo counties as a result of the additional votes. Officials from the Kent County Clerk’s Office confirmed on Saturday that no apparent winners had changed.
However, the votes have the potential to change, and have done so, the apparent winners of some county-level races in Calhoun and Leelanau counties.
The unreported votes may also prompt a recount in a closely watched state House race in which Republicans flipped a seat on their way to regaining the majority.
According to the Lansing State Journal, one of the apparent winners in the race for Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees had their unofficial results changed due to a data error in Allegan County. Calhoun County’s unreported votes contributed to the flip.
Officials from the Michigan Department of State emphasized that the results seen on election night and in the days following are unofficial until certified. Officials stated that the bipartisan certification process is intended to detect errors such as those that resulted in the unreported votes.
“It is typical of the canvassing process to identify and correct these types of issues,” state department officials said. “The purpose of the canvass is to ensure that the results are correct. That’s why we emphasize that these are unofficial results until the canvass is completed and certified.
As of 4 p.m. Friday, 26,662 votes had been added to the state’s unofficial tally. Kent County received 13,795 votes, followed by Kalamazoo County with 6,691, Calhoun County with 4,602, and Leelanau County with 1,574.
Apart from Calhoun County, which had a software error, officials say the unreported votes in Kent, Kalamazoo, and Leelanau counties were the result of human error rather than machine error.
According to Rob Macomber, Kent County’s chief deputy clerk, some absentee ballots in Ada and Plainfield townships were properly tabulated and tallied during the election but were not transmitted or reported to the county.
The mistake was discovered Wednesday morning, and the votes were added to the county’s unofficial results the next day.
“This is exactly what the canvass is for and why this part of the process is so incredibly important to ensuring every vote is counted and the results are accurate,” Posthumus Lyons, the county clerk, said. “It’s why we always emphatically emphasize that results are unofficial until the canvass has completed its review and certified the election.”
Kalamazoo County officials initially sent the state results, which did not include some ballots from Portage and Brady Township, according to MDOS officials. The Kalamazoo County Clerk could not be reached immediately.
MDOS officials stated that they were not aware of any apparent winners changing as a result of the unreported votes.
Leelanau County’s initial unofficial results inadvertently reflected the results of logic and accuracy test ballots rather than ballots cast during early voting, officials stated. The error has now been corrected in the unofficial results.
The Leelanau County Clerk’s Office did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
According to the Leelanau Ticker, unofficial results showed Democrats winning a “unprecedented” 6-1 majority on the county board as well as the drain commissioner position.
However, the most recent results from the clerk’s office on Friday show Republicans are on track to maintain a 4-3 majority on the board.
Calhoun County officials used two high-speed absentee ballot tabulators, but the county’s system was not set up to combine the drives from the two tabulators, officials said.
After reading the first set of numbers, the system replaced them with the second set rather than adding them all together.
Prior to the approximately 4,600 votes being tallied in Calhoun County, unofficial results showed that incumbent Democrat Rep. Jim Haadsma lost to Republican challenger Steve Frisbie by a margin of 19,233 votes to 17,852.
On Thursday afternoon, the Associated Press called the race for Frisbie.
According to the most recent county clerk’s office results, Frisbie won by a narrow margin, with 20,823 votes to Haadsma’s 20,765, a difference of 58 votes and a tally of 50.1% to 49.9%.
Haadsma’s seat is one of four that Republicans flipped on Tuesday, giving them a 58-52 majority in the state House, ending Democrats’ brief but historic control of both legislative chambers and the governorship.
Gongwer reported that unreported votes could have an impact on the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners race.
According to the most recent unofficial results, Republicans are on track to retain a 6-1 majority on the county board. It was unclear whether any of the apparent winners had changed since the initial unofficial results.
The closest race on the board shows incumbent Democrat Rochelle Hatcher losing to Republican Dominic Oo, with Hatcher receiving 3,944 votes to Oo’s 3986 votes, a 42-vote difference.
The seat represents portions of Battle Creek as well as the entire city of Springfield.
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