County Canvassers Busy

Now the election results are in throughout the county. Now it is time for the county canvassers to to make sure the election workers dotted all the “i”s and crossed all the “t”s. To sum it up, county canvassers are the people in each individual county who check that all the paper work from the individual precincts matches up. They read over any possible notes made by election workers, if some numbers don’t match up and/or a machine jammed up. Here is the official explanation of the job for county canvassers;

Michigan election law was amended in 1963 to establish procedures for the appointment of a four-member Board of County Canvassers in every county in the state. (MCLA 168.24a-168.24f) Prior to 1963, county canvassers were elected. While the procedures for filling positions on county canvassing boards have changed over the years, the responsibilities of the boards have remained as follows:
COMPLETES CANVASS AND CERTIFICATION OF PRIMARIES AND ELECTIONS:
The Board is responsible for canvassing and certifying primaries and elections held in the county. In specified instances, county canvassing boards are required to forward the results obtained for primaries and elections to the Board of State Canvassers in Lansing.
CONDUCTS RECOUNTS: The Board is responsible for conducting recounts of votes cast at primaries and elections held in the county.
TESTS DEFECTIVE VOTING EQUIPMENT: The Board is responsible for resolving any
allegations that malfunctioning voting equipment may have affected the outcome of a vote on an office appearing on the ballot. The testing procedures are not carried out unless an aggrieved candidate files a petition asserting a voting equipment problem.
The Board is also responsible for resolving any allegations that malfunctioning voting equipment may have affected the outcome of a vote on a proposal appearing on the ballot. The testing procedures are not carried out unless a voter who participated in the election files a petition asserting a voting equipment problem.
INSPECTS BALLOT CONTAINERS: Every four years the Board is responsible for
inspecting all of the ballot containers used in the county.
This manual outlines the procedures a Board of County Canvassers must follow when fulfilling
the above responsibilities.

From the Michigan Secretary of State pdf, in the Manual for Boards of County Canvassers.

I am going to assume this is a similar explanation for all the fifty states. If you would like to know all the details of what a canvasser does in your state, your secretary of state’s website should be able to provide an explanation.

County canvassers are chosen evenly based upon political party association. From a print out provided by Mackinac County Clerk, Mary Kay Tamlyn; I was given an official explanation. I can not find any document online, so I will just type out word for word.

Ah fudge!  I had typed up the explanation.  when I re-read this post, it disappeared.  I’ll type up again, arghh!

Depending how small or large your county is, these people will be busy within the next couple of days. Their jobs are very important. They are the ones who are there to resolve any problems or contentions by candidates who challenge election results. Remember, the results aren’t officially until the canvassers “sign on the dotted line.” Usually, they will be canvassing at the county courthouse or another government building. If you know a county canvasser, thank them. Maybe even you can take treats to these busy people. If you are a restauranteur, find out what times the canvassers will be working and bring them free lunch. I will write a post giving free advertisement to any restauranteur who brings free lunch to county canvassers.

I have received some unofficial results of the breakdown of the elections in Mackinac County. The official breakdown of the results within each individual Mackinac County township should be available by Friday. Check by later tonight for the current breakdowns.