MASON - Recounts aren’t always as easy as they should be.
The Board of State Canvassers voted Wednesday night to allow 10 precincts - eight of those from East Lansing - to be recounted in the 8th Congressional District race after questions over the validity of some ballots arose.
Problems with the eight East Lansing precincts arose when officials discovered numbers appearing on the ballot boxes did not match official numbers recorded in poll books.
The vote came as good news to Democratic candidate Dianne Byrum’s campaign, which trailed Republican Mike Rogers by 160 votes before recounts began at her request. Earlier in the evening, the Ingham County Board of Canvassers threw those contested precincts out, leading Byrum’s attorney to appeal to the state.
At the end of Wednesday, Byrum, a state senator from Onondaga, had gained 29 votes in the Ingham County recount, picking up one vote per precinct recounted. But even with those tallies, she still trails Rogers, a state senator from Brighton, by 118.
Genesee, Washtenaw, Shiawassee, Livingston and Oakland counties will begin recounts for the race next week.
The two boards of canvassers, which met together in the Ingham County Fair Offices and Community Building, heard testimony from East Lansing and county election officials before rendering a decision.
During testimony, the board heard why the numbers on ballot boxes and poll books didn’t match.
“A number of precincts we received were listed as having zero ballots tabulated,” said Ingham County Clerk Michael Bryanton during his testimony.
When he noticed the zeros, Bryanton asked East Lansing Clerk Sue Donnell to retransmit the information. But to do so, Donnell had to open the sealed ballot boxes, send the information and reseal the boxes.
The original seals were placed in the boxes, and new numbers were recorded on the new seals.
That led the boards to question the ballots’ security and brought Donnell up for testimony.
She was asked if she noticed a problem during the course of tabulating results.
With a laugh, she responded, “Yes, I did.”
Donnell had tested the machine used to transmit the results, but failed to turn a switch on at the time of transmission. The oversight caused the county to read the tabulation as zero.
“I wanted to fax the results I had, but was told by the county the cases had to be opened,” she said.
Donnell said her cubicle was within eyesight of the ballots at all times the boxes were open, and she didn’t think there was an opportunity for someone to tamper with the ballots without her knowing.
The board also heard testimony from East Lansing Deputy Clerk Ann McCauliff.
During the questioning, the boards of canvassers, Donnell and state elections officials examined the ballot boxes.
A tag on East Lansing Precinct 10’s ballot box fell off when one of the officials examined it, rendering the box unrecountable.
“It’s definitely frustrating to us,” said Adam Wright, Byrum’s spokesman. “First students weren’t able to vote in the first place on election day, and now their votes can’t be recounted.”
Wright is hopeful Byrum will keep gaining votes, but Rogers spokeswoman Sylvia Warner said she’s not worried.
“(Byrum’s) nowhere near what she needs to overturn the election,” Warner said.
She doesn’t have much time to gain more votes either. The Ingham County Board of Canvassers will reconvene at 4 p.m. today.
“My guess is it will be much ado about nothing,” said Christopher Thomas, Michigan elections director. “They will look at the ballots they recounted during the day, see the small numbers changed, and they will certify the recount.”
Emily Robinson can be reached at robin314@msu.edu.
