KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Officials say the post-recount presidential vote tally in Kalamazoo County strayed a bit from the final numbers recorded on election night.
Clerk Tim Snow said recount petitioner and Green Party candidate Jill Stein actually lost a vote, but nearly everybody else on the ballot made gains.
“(Donald) Trump gained around nine or 10 votes, (Hillary) Clinton gained about 80,” Snow said.
The change was in part due to state law regarding straight-ticket votes and invalid write-ins.
“If a person did a straight-party vote and then wrote in the presidential column a candidate — we saw a few (ballots) where people wrote in Bernie Sanders, (but) he wasn’t a candidate — that vote diverted back to Clinton,” Snow said.
The same would be the case if somebody voted straight-ticket Republican, but filled in an invalid candidate in the presidential box instead of Donald Trump.
Snow said there are usually discrepancies between election day and recount tallies because tabulators can’t always determine the voter’s intention.
Clinton won Kalamazoo County in November, picking up 67,148 votes. Trump had 51,034 votes.
Snow said, at this stage, he doesn’t expect cost overruns from the recount, which was completed by around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
