KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — There have been recounts after elections in Kalamazoo County before, but rarely if ever have there been four — especially after a primary election.
Paul Cutting and Trish Roberts both got exactly 620 votes as they squared off for their party’s nomination for Texas Township treasurer. Both Joseph Kaywood and Bear Preist got precisely 359 votes for Richland Trustee.
Both Kaywood and Cutting won by drawing lots out of a hat. Preist and Roberts have requested recounts challenging that outcome.
The two candidates for Schoolcraft Township clerk were within a vote of each other, and a trustee race is being challenged by a candidate in Texas Township who lost by 27 votes.
Clerk Tim Snow said the recounts are tentatively set for Sept. 1, but it depends on when the State Elections Bureau gives them the green light. There is more at stake than just a spot on the November ballot: The winner of the recounts will essentially win election because no democrats filed to run.
Recounts are not free. Whoever demands one will be charged a $25 fee for each precinct that needs to be hand-counted.
The recounts have to be done and the names picked sometime in early September because ballots are due to go to the printer soon after that.
