Lois Bahle, the Democrat candidate for the District No. 3 commissioner seat in the Nov. 5 General Election, fell just six votes behind the Republican candidate, Will Bunek, at 1,319 votes to Bunek’s 1,325 votes. Shortly after the results were certified, Bahle filed a petition for a recount of the votes cast in her precincts.
County Clerk Michelle Crocker brought in the “best of the best” of her election workers to hand-count the ballots at the government center in Suttons Bay Tuesday morning. Crocker said she expected the recount to be completed after “the better part of the day” had passed, which was after this edition of the newspaper went to print.
Under Michigan Compiled Law Act 168.862, any losing candidate for local offices may petition for a recount if they allege a good-faith belief that “but for fraud or mistake, the candidate would have had a reasonable chance of winning the election.”
