Recount requested in vote on Sylvan Township millage
A Sylvan Township resident has requested a recount of the August primary vote in which a 4.4 mill tax to pay back debt the township owes to Washtenaw County passed with a seven-vote margin.
Janice Carr, a Sylvan Township librarian who has previously written a letter to the editor on the topic of the millage, filed the petition for a recount Thursday, said Ed Golembiewski, Director of Elections for Washtenaw County.
Voters in the township passed the millage by a vote of 480-473, which was certified Tuesday by the Board of Canvassers. Voter turnout was about 37 percent.
For an individual with a house with a taxable value of $100,000, the tax costs an additional $440 per year in taxes.
The county would have pursued legal action against the township had township voters not passed the millage. County officials have said action by a judge could have resulted in an even steeper tax rate for township residents.
The recount by the Washtenaw County Board of Elections cannot begin until the state Board of Canvassers certifies the vote count in state level races.
Once 48 hours has expired after the state canvass is complete, the county can begin its recount, Golembiewski said.
Candidates that ran for office and registered voters in a municipality that decided on a proposal in the primary election have until Aug. 20 to file for a recount for the races in which they participated.
When filing for a recount, a $10 deposit must be contributed for each precinct for which a recount is requested. If the vote total changes as a result of the recount, the deposit will be returned.
- Read a copy of the recount guidelines: Recount Process - County Board of Canvassers.pdf
- View a copy of the petition: Recount petition.doc
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
maverik
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 : 8:42 p.m.
While I was at the township hall to vote I heard the people doing the sign ins and checking ID's,etc. explain to every one indivudially ,(including me) how to vote the ballot; such as if you voted republican and dem. it would spoil the ticket. We were told to either vote republican or Dem., not to split the vote and we were even were shown exactly what they meant. So , I don't know how there could be so much confusion. Also, people were told that the millage vote had nothing to do with what ever party you voted for. It could not have been any clearer than it was. But, even if there were some spoiled ballots, it has nothing to do with the final count, only good ballots are counted.
ChelseaBob
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 : 11:17 a.m.
HotK- You didn't understand the ballot. The millage was something you voted on regardless of which party you selected, but there were lots of confused people. They had over 40 ruined ballots when I was there in the afternoon. The recount is pountless. We have to pay so we might as well set our own millage. The system was a very bad idea and was put in place to support a mobile home park which was never approved of by township residents and is now failing.
hotk9
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 : 7:03 p.m.
This is a sham. The approval to build this system along with it's enourmous price tag was never up for a public vote IN THE FIRST place. Only through the incompetence of the elected officails did it ever approved. When I went to vote against the millage I was told that since it was a primary I could ony vote a straight ticket and the milliage was on the same half of the ticket as the idiots who voted for it in the first place. Sooo... if I wanted to vote against the millage I had to vote for the same people who got us into this mess... sure....makes sense to me...
jmcmurray
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 : 7:15 p.m.
You were lied to. Straight tickets in the primary only count for candidates running under a party affiliation. You would either have to vote all democratic or all republican. Millage proposals are not candidates, so you can vote how ever you would like to on them.
Honest Abe
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 : 5:40 p.m.
hmmm