As Yogi Berra so famously said long ago, “It’s not over until it’s over.”
In yet another twist of election fate, it has been determined that an error in counting votes at Yankee Springs Township has resulted in the reversal of the announcement this morning that Wayland Board of Education President Cinnamon Mellema had won a second four-year term on the board.
Jason Shane, a newcomer to the board, was elected over Mellema after the latter was reported as winning her second four-year term. Shane was reported elected on Nov. 4, but more returns afterward showed Mellema had prevailed.
Shane confirmed that a request for a recount has been filed today.
Shane today said, “An error was made in Yankee Springs Precinct 2. The correction was sent out this morning. Allegan County has to gather the information from Barry and Kent Counties in order to tabulate the outcome of the ‘Allegan County Position.’
“While gathering the information, 542 votes were entered instead of the 342. This was verified with the Barry County Clerk’s office and the official election results.
“It did create a bit of a mess but is now corrected. A petition for recount has been filed today.”
First reports had her finishing fifth in the race for four open four-year seats. However, results certified Monday showed her in fourth place, ahead of newcomer Jason Shane.
The officially tally on the Allegan County Clerk’s web site Monday was Theresa Dobry with 4,630 votes, newcomer Becky Hohnke 4,444, Dan Cassini 4,058, Mellema 3,962 and Shane 3,880.
The adjusted count from Yankee Springs now shows Shane still with 3,880 votes, but Mellema’s total dropped to 3,762.
Vote counts reported Nov. 4 showed Mellema finished fifth with 3,381 votes and Shane had 3,508.
When asked about the discrepancy, Mellema said, “I think it was because not all precincts had actually finished counting and certifying their elections. When the final tally was done, (this may have included the mail-in ballots being tallied), I had more votes than Mr. Shane.
“Ironically, I gave both Ms. Hohnke and Mr. Shane cards with notes of congratulations last week.”
They can’t even get a local School Board election correct but we are to believe our President lost fair and square to Joe Biden? What a colossal farce of an election!