Recount halted: Ballots cast in Sylvan Township millage can't be counted due to failed seal
Editor's note: This story was updated at 7 p.m.
A recount of the ballots cast in the Sylvan Township millage proposal was halted after county canvassers discovered the containers holding the ballots were not sealed correctly Tuesday.
The Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers met Tuesday to review the ballots cast in six races and proposals in the August primary that had been requested to be recounted by the Aug. 16 deadline.
Janice Carr of Sylvan Township filed the request for a recount of ballots cast in the August vote to levy a 4.4 mill tax in Sylvan Township to pay back Washtenaw County for loan payments and back taxes.
The millage passed by a margin of seven votes.
However, officials said Tuesday that each of the three zippered containers holding ballots from the Sylvan Township precincts were sealed incorrectly.
Several Sylvan Township residents attended the recount Tuesday - including Patrick Zieske and Rod Branham. After the August primary, Branham will be the new treasurer for the township board after the incumbents were swept out of office by voters.
Zieske and Branham would not reveal if they voted for the millage or not, but stated that a recount is necessary to put the issue to rest.
Emotions are running high amongst Sylvan Township residents on the issue, Zieske said. Because it would only take four votes to be overturned for the issue to fail, Branham said the recount was crucial ensure there is no doubt about the outcome of the election moving forward.
As no recount is possible, the results of the election are capped at the original vote tally.
Zieske and Branham said they weren’t pointing fingers or accusing anyone of voter fraud, but concerned about the potential for tempering with the official ballot count if it could not be verified with a recount.
“The voters deserve to have this recount,” Branham said.
“I didn’t anticipate a change in the numbers, but I wanted to put it to rest,” Zieske said.
Michigan law is not completely black-and-white when it comes to the issue of the seal.
The state abides by a general rule that ballots cannot be recounted if anything can be inserted into the sealed container holding the ballots - for example, a hand or piece of paper.
Plastic ties, each with a unique number that’s recorded in a log book, act as the official seal.
In the case of the Sylvan Township ballots, the plastic tie had been affixed in a way that it allowed the zippers to separate and about a two-inch gap to be opened.
The opening was large enough that the ballots could have been tampered with, according to the canvassers at the recount after consulting a state-level official.
Inside the zippered bag, there were large envelopes holding the physical ballots that were sealed with official stickers.
Because the recount was not able to take place, the result of the original vote holds and the millage passes. The only recourse for action is to seek a court order for a recount.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
dexterreader
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 : 1:02 p.m.
I too have been a poll worker in Ann Arbor and "gee" is correct. The process is clear and laid out step by step. All numbers are verified, recorded, etc. All bags are checked and rechecked. And all the precinct workers stay until the very end when they are dismissed by the precinct chairperson. I can't imagine that a similar process is not followed in Sylvan Township. I am glad I was not a worker or chairperson in THAT election!! I probably wouldn't be invited back!
gee
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 : 11:59 a.m.
As a regular poll worker in Ann Arbor (Absentee Voter Counting Board), I can say that we are not allowed to leave the area until our room supervisor has *thoroughly* checked every bag, every tag, every "zip strip" that seals the bags. On numerous occasions we've made the (easy to make) mistake that these workers did and leave it so that there is, indeed, a little gap. We ALWAYS have to re-do the entire thing, changing the lock numbers (that are on the zip strip) on several forms so the new seal numbers match, and then resealing the bag so there is zero gap. It's really frustrating, as the workers are exhausted at the end of a long shift (we worked from 8 a.m. Tues. - 3 a.m. Wed. in 2010), but it's mandatory. One Dem and one Repub stay with each bag until this is finished and the bag checked out. Whoever was supervising the room in August is responsible for not catching this error!!!!!!!! The Sylvan Township Hall just keeps getting better and better...... (yes, I live there, and I definitely care!!!)
1bit
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 : 10:39 a.m.
Amy, "tampering" not "tempering". Sorry to nitpick.
Patrick Zieske
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 : 1:26 a.m.
Update: At the regularly scheduled Sylvan Township Board meeting held this evening (coincidentally), we learned from the Township Clerk that there were no envelopes inside the bag. Rather, the outer bag with the zippers contains only the ballots. The Clerk also stated that Sylvan Township has been sealing the ballot containers this same way consistently for eight years without any complaint or feedback from the County. Is this true? How can the County all of a sudden come back and say ballots are unrecountable after playing along and not saying anything at all, election after election, for 8 years? The workers in the recount room today told me that this had "never happened before". But all of sudden, today, they notice the same problem with not only Sylvan Township, but also two of the three precincts in Augusta Township? Yes, that's right, Augusta Township's recount was also 2/3 scuttled in the same way. This is bigger than Sylvan.
MattY
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 : 3:02 a.m.
Voted ballots are not stored at the County, and many years could conceivably go by before the County ever sees them from a given precinct (i.e., a recount is requested which would require the city/township clerk to transport them to the County). It's worth noting that the State Bureau of Elections previously noticed this problem throughout the entire State, and in fact issued a bulletin to all city and township clerks about it back in April of 2011: http://michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1633_11976_45674_57677-255429--,00.html
Basic Bob
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 : 1:05 a.m.
Strange, I've never seen a paper ballot that could fit through the opening of an envelope and then out through a two inch gap in a plastic bag without being permanently damaged. But in this case there are three out of three (not) sealed in such a manner. In any case the scanner is probably more accurate than a partisan human if the ballots were filled out properly and not with a broken orange crayon.
Ron Granger
Tue, Sep 4, 2012 : 11:10 p.m.
The mechanism in conventional zipties can be released with a needle or blade. Is that not the case with these? Are they putting too much faith in the zipties, regardless of the gap? What if someone opened the bag by unstitching a seam and then re-stitched it?
Gorc
Tue, Sep 4, 2012 : 10:54 p.m.
Hanging chads and zip lock bags not sealed properly, what else can go wrong in our election process?
outdoor6709
Tue, Sep 4, 2012 : 9:36 p.m.
You have to wonder, if the recount would have been stopped if the milage had lost by 7.
Ralph
Tue, Sep 4, 2012 : 8:03 p.m.
Life is just not fair sometimes.
LXIX
Tue, Sep 4, 2012 : 7:58 p.m.
Ummm... If the recount was paid for and there is ni law preventing it then it should proceed. Given that the Sylvan Township voting process is flawless (as it is in A2, MI, USA), then the tally should be the same. THEN if either party wishes to contest the recount because of a few japanese robots seen brandishing fake voter identification on election eve in Washtenaw County, so be it.
LXIX
Wed, Sep 5, 2012 : 1:20 p.m.
Criminals are usually at work where there is motive, opportunity, little risk, and a big payoff. This story exemplifies the case. Millions of dollars were not lost, they went into someones pocket. Rather than ruthlessly pursue the criminal profiteers and protect their constituent interests, Sylvan invited the voter to "choose" to commit (their kids') financial hari-kari. Apparently they did. Wouldn't everyone just shrug their shoulders and pull out the old credit card to pay a few more millions? The robots mock the democratic process in that the voter has been left so far behind the criminal technology that the 99% have essentially just become indebted slave laborers.
ferdcom
Tue, Sep 4, 2012 : 10:52 p.m.
What?????
bruceae
Tue, Sep 4, 2012 : 7:41 p.m.
Nice, so if you like the original out come you just mess up the zip tie so no recount is possible?