KALAMAZOO, Mich. — While this year’s general election has come and gone for most of the country, local canvassers are still hard at work. Preliminary results were widely available the evening of Nov. 5, but the vote has not yet been officially certified.
After preliminary election results rolled in, Kalamazoo County's Board of Canvassers began verifying votes.
“When the dust settles, if you will, the process picks right back up,” explained Kalamazoo County Clerk and Register of Deeds Meredith Place.
“Here in Kalamazoo County, our Board of Canvassers begin on Thursday, right after the election, at 9 a.m.”
This bipartisan team reviews the more than 140,000 ballots cast across 105 precincts in the county, ensuring accuracy and completeness. The team is made up of two Democrats and two Republicans.
They scrutinize every signature, number and material, paying close attention to precinct balances.
Canvassers request re-tabulations if needed and investigate discrepancies.
“Initially, when they received the materials from the Oshtemo Township Clerk, those absentee precincts were not in balance,” Place explained.
The group requested such a re-tabulation from Oshtemo Township.
“And when they did a re-tabulation, all of those precincts were in balance,” she said.
Once certified, results are sent to the state for further review.
“After this process, we have post-election audits, where the state, through a randomized process, will tell us which precincts we need to audit,” Place said.
“In that audit process, it includes a review of all the material from the applications, certification materials of the election inspectors, to a hand count of the ballots, and applications to vote for that precinct.”
This thorough process ensures every vote counts.
While the Board of Canvassers still has several days until their deadline, they are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I am very proud of the work of the county election staff, of our board of canvassers, as well as our 19 local clerks throughout the county,” Place said Thursday.
“We have all worked extremely hard, not just this last week, not this last month, but the past few months, and including this entire year… this is the culmination of a very busy election year.”
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