Hayes Ballots Recounted: One-by-One

By DIANNE ALWARD-BIERY

Cleaver Senior Staff Writer

HARRISON – It would seem that elections can always last longer than expected, and so it was this week when the Clare County Clerk’s Office and the Clare County Board of Canvassers conducted two lengthy primary ballot recounts Sept. 9 in the Clare County Building, 225 W. Main St. in Harrison. At issue were two races in Hayes Township Precincts 1 and 2.

The first was for the Clare County Commissioner-District 7 seat vied for by incumbent Gabe Ambrozaitis and challenger Larry Szyska, who had filed for the recount. The recount included meticulous adherence to ballot handling procedures, along with candidates and their representatives if present, as well as both Democratic and Republican members of the Board of Canvassers all viewing every ballot handling and accounting.

The second race counted was for the position of Hayes Township Trustee vied for by incumbent Robert Buckley and challenger JJ Martin, both of whom had received 252 votes in the primary. A third trustee candidate, Rob McKay, had received 324 votes, so the runoff for the second seat was between Buckley and Martin, although McKay’s votes also were recounted during the process. Initially, Buckley and Martin had settled the tie with a drawing, in which Buckley prevailed. Later, however, Martin had decided to seek a recounting of the vote.

The first recount carried out Monday was for the Clare County Commissioner-District 7 race. Interestingly, the official primary results posted on the Clareco.gov Elections page showed the commissioner race as Ambrozaitis 202 and Szyska 193. The Sept. 9 count resulted in Ambrozaitis still receiving 202 votes and Szyska receiving 195 votes. Thus, the former nine-vote margin became a seven-vote margin, but the win remained with Ambrozaitis. Szyska promptly extended a hand in congratulations to his opponent, and the two exemplified the civility that should surround local elections.

That process all took about 2 ½ hours.

The Hayes Trustee recount started with Hayes Township District 1 ballots, at the end of which the count stood at McKay 159, Buckley 120 and Martin 113. And, as was done previously, the count moved on to Hayes Township District 2. The Hayes Township Trustee vote finally concluded at about 6:15 p.m. with Buckley and Martin each gaining one additional vote. Thus, the original status was maintained, with Buckley and McKay still advancing to the November ballot. Cleanup and re-housing of ballots saw everything finished by about 6:45 p.m.

One educational component of the recount came with the explanation to candidates regarding “duplicate” ballots which were also tallied in the recount. At first blush that would seem to mean multiple like-ballots being cast. However, those ballots actually refer to ballots which the voting tabulator could not accurately read and are shuttled into a separate bin within the machine. Reasons these ballots cannot be read by the tabulating machine include inadequately filling in the provided oval or square; marking out of bounds of the oval/square, circling; placing an X or check mark in or next to the oval/square rather than filling it in; crossing out a filled in oval/square and then filling in a different one; or even writing yes next to an oval/square – among other inconsistent things voters sometimes choose to do. Those ballots are then duplicated onto new ballots by two election inspectors of different political parties, “duplicating” the original ballot’s intended choices, but ensuring they are tabulator-readable. Both ballots are kept together and designated “Orig 1” and “Dup 1” (for example) so they can be properly accounted for, while only tallying one ballot’s votes.

In all, it was a long afternoon dedicated to the two recounts, and then it was done. The voting process, the entitlement to the recourse of recount, and the resolution of questions – all were effected by diligent elected officials and dedicated citizens whose desire it is to see the process through efficiently and accurately for the people of Clare County.

Next stop – the Nov. 5 General Election. Early voting will again be offered at the Clare County Building from the second Saturday before the election and ending the Sunday before the election, with Nov. 5 Election Day voting done only at the local precincts.