When about 3,200 unreported early in-person votes were added to the unofficial Nov. 5 election results Friday night, many candidates suddenly leapt ahead of their opposition. Although the results still need to be certified by the Leelanau County board of canvassers, the winners of many races could be different than reported last week.
Not only were the results of three Leelanau County commissioner races affected, but so were the winners of the drain commissioner position, three township trustee positions, and a school board member position.
Faith Hoekstra, the Democrat candidate who appeared to be winning the race for county drain commissioner, is now behind Republican candidate Tim O’Non in the unofficial results, with O’Non at 8,736 votes to Hoekstra’s 8,093 votes.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. I’m sorry for the constituents who have been dragged along on that rollercoaster as well, but I wish the best for Tim O’Non,” Hoekstra said. “It’s a big, complicated process, and there’re bound to be some hiccups.”
Centerville Township voters chose two trustees from four candidates. The candidates with the most votes initially appeared to be Democrats Paul Winston and Rolf von Walthausen. But with the early votes, the winners are Republicans Jolyn Arens and Kerry O’Non, with 458 votes and 452 votes respectively, over Winston and von Walthausen, at 442 votes and 428 votes.
“As a candidate, I think it’s unfortunate to experience that reversal,” Winston said. “But at the same time, I believe it’s important that all the ballots are counted, and if there was a human error or software error with missed ballots, it’s important to count those and also fix what caused the error.”
Leland Township residents also voted for two trustees from a field of four candidates. Wednesday morning’s unofficial results showed that Republican Steve Scales and Democrat Kathryn Dawkins received the two most votes. But as of Friday evening, another Republican, Mariann Kirch, surged past Dawkins for the second most votes, with Kirch receiving 799 votes to Dawkins’s 775 votes.
“I’m waiting for the final board of canvassers results. I have full faith that Michelle (Crocker, the county clerk) did the best she could, but things can happen, and I just want to know the full story on how this occurred. The only official notifi cation I received was an email from my township clerk that I won. I have not received any other notification since then,” Dawkins said.
Voters in seven precincts could choose two candidates running for Glen Lake Community Schools board members from a list of three. Wednesday morning, the candidates with the two most votes were Cory McNitt and Nancy Flanagan. Flanagan was ahead of Tom Bisbee by just 15 votes Wednesday, but now Bisbee has the second most votes with 1,506 votes to Flanagan’s 1,484 votes.
“That was a huge error… they were more than 11% off in terms of total voting,” Flanagan said. “(Bisbee) is a good guy and is going to be a fine board member. My race is, in the big scheme of things, relatively unimportant. I’m going to contact the superintendent and board at Glen Lake and offer my help in other areas.”
The election results will not be certified as official until Thursday or Friday, according to the Leelanau County clerk. Some candidates indicated that they may petition for a recount in the closer races under Michigan Compiled Law Act 168.862 given the circumstances.
