Allegan County officials are praising the work of local clerks and election inspectors following the results of state-mandated post-election audits that ended Feb. 6.
The audits included hand counts of votes on paper ballots to measure the accuracy of the totals reported by tabulators on election night Nov. 5.
“We are batting a thousand in each precinct audited,” reported county clerk Bob Genetski. “The hand count of 2,198 votes matched the exact totals reported by the machines for each presidential candidate from Donald Trump on down to Jill Stein.”
Under Michigan election law, Genetski’s office has to conduct post-election audits of precincts randomly selected by the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
The four precincts audited procedurally and hand counted for the November 2024 election were: the City of Fennville (election day), City of Saugatuck (election day), City of Wayland Precinct 2 (both election day and absent voter counting board), and Laketown Township (early in person voting – Precinct 1).
“I am proud of the proficiency shown by our local clerks and election inspectors throughout Allegan County, said Genetski, a Saugatuck Republican.
“Their hard work, dedication and professionalism helped 72,435 voters cast a ballot, and the accuracy of the hand counts validates their efforts. Republican remarked.
He noted that the audit results are not unexpected, “but they should put any voters’ minds at ease regarding whether or not their votes counted.”
In 2022, due to statewide recounts, a local recount and audits by the clerk’s pffice, Allegan County hand counted more thn 14,000 ballots following the November General Election. “Of all those ballots, only one vote changed hands; we feel really good about that number,” the third-term Clerk remarked.
“And it wasn’t even a vote that changed from a ‘yes’ to a ‘no’ or from a Democratic to a Republican candidate. That voter just didn’t fill in the oval dark enough, so the machine couldn’t read it.”
Friday, February 21, 2025
