While voting is over and the campaign ads are gone for now, the election process is still underway for Sanilac County, as the results move onto the bipartisan county Board of Canvassers for the official tallying.
Meeting on Thursday morning at the courthouse, the four member panel, made up of Republicans Lynda Graves and Kathleen See alongside Democrats Carole Partlo and Loraine Reish, are responsible for verifying the count at the county level. State law requires that the county verification and certification of the results by November 22, with County Clerk Leslie Hilgendorf and her staff allowed to help the canvassers with the process so they can complete in time. It is then to be certified again, this time by November 28th and by the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers.
Speaking of County Clerk Leslie Hilgendorf, the clerk confirmed some issues with county voting machines this election due to ink pen buildup on some of the machines. The ink buildup made the tabulators reject ballots, and though three machines were replaced during the course of the day, Hilgendorf reassured that this was not an unusual incident, but typical election day hiccups. For instance, just this past August, during the primary elections, Lapeer County had voting machine troubles in 18 of their 38 precincts that required new ballots to be printed and any filled but rejected ballots to be transferred to a correct ballot after polls closed. Still, about 63% of Sanilac County’s registered voters cast their ballot this election, and Hilgendorf praised local clerks for working past the hiccups and making the election smooth for constituents and officials alike.
