DETROIT — Unofficial recount results for Proposals 2 and 3 on the Nov. 8 Michigan ballot show no significant changes in the margin of victory for the constitutional amendments that allow for nine days of early voting and enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution.
The results from the partial recount, which will be considered Wednesday by the Board of State Canvassers, indicate 116 additional yes votes on the abortion amendment, Proposal 3, among the areas recounted and seven extra no votes, for a net gain of 109 yes votes. The Proposal 2 recount results indicate an additional 14 yes votes and 20 no votes, for a net gain of six no votes.
The Proposal 3 recount encompassed about 626,000 votes across 500 precincts in 43 counties, according to the data released Tuesday, while the Proposal 2 recount included more than 59,000 votes across 47 precincts in four counties.
Lori Hayes, elections coordinator in the Muskegon County clerk’s office, said the recount in her county backed up her confidence in the election system. The county reported two additional yes votes and two additional no votes for Prop 3, and one additional yes vote on Prop 2.
“That, to me, proves that our machines are doing their job,” Hayes said Tuesday.
Canvassers on Wednesday will also consider roughly 112 challenges filed during the recount process, their decisions on which could impact the final tally of yes and no votes on either proposal.
A partial recount of two ballot proposals enshrining new voting and abortion rights in the state constitution showed no tangible change in the outcome, according to unofficial recount results.
The challenges include allegations of missing ballot materials; uncertified voting systems; markers that bled through the ballot; stray marks on some ballots; and prohibitions on viewing tabulator tapes, absentee ballot signatures and the front side of a ballot.
The recount, which took place over a roughly two-week period, was requested late last month by Jerome Jay Allen of Bloomfield Township, who worked with Election Integrity Fund and Force, a group that has previously spread unproven election claims in Michigan.
State officials warned against disruptions during the recount process after receiving reports that some observers were causing issues when they refused to accept the rejection of challenges to the recount process. At least one individual in Marquette had to be escorted from the recount process there.
Challengers who disagree with bureau staff decisions were free to appeal to the Board of State Canvassers, Elections Director Jonathan Brater wrote Dec. 9. But the bureau would "not permit disruptive behavior," he wrote, and challengers who continue that behavior "run the risk of hindering or delaying the conduct of the recount."
Allen paid a $428,000 deposit to start the recount process last month. The nonprofit Election Integrity Fund and Force said in a Facebook post that the recount received financial support from The America Project, which is led in part by former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers, when it allowed for the recounts in early December, compared the effort to a "fishing expedition" that had no chance of changing the results of the Nov. 8 election.
The recount did not examine enough votes to change the outcome of the proposals' adoption because of the large margins with which both Prop 2 and 3 passed.
Proposal 2 won with 60% in support and 40% in opposition, a victory margin of about 861,000 votes, and Proposal 3 passed with 57% indicating support and 43% in opposition, a margin of about 585,000 votes.
--------
