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O’Non expressed surprise at the shift in his favor, noting that he had been informed by Leelanau County Clerk Michelle Crocker about the technical issue. Crocker reportedly described the unreported ballots as a consequence of a “software glitch,” which she claimed prevented the votes from being uploaded initially. “She didn’t see any issues with their procedures,” O’Non stated, adding that he respects Crocker, who has served in her role for decades.
The delayed vote discovery has also affected other Republican candidates in Leelanau County. Republican Trustee candidate Kerry O’Non, Tim’s wife, was declared the winner of her race by a margin of just 10 votes. The late tally also awarded 452 votes to another Republican, Jolyn Arins, who now holds 458 votes, securing her victory.
The story was initially reported by Leelanau Enterprise, which detailed the 1,500-plus ballots that weren’t counted in the initial Nov. 5 results. According to their reporting, the addition of these votes has now given Republicans a potential majority on the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners. Candidates Mark Walter, Will Bunek, and Alan Campbell, previously declared losers, now appear to have won their races, edging out their Democratic opponents, including incumbent Commissioner Kama Ross.
This issue also spilled over into township races, where early in-person votes altered results in Centerville Township. Previously, Democrats Paul Winston and Rolf von Walthausen had led the trustee race. After including the new ballots, Republicans Jolyn Arins and Kerry O’Non emerged as winners. In Leland Township, another Republican, Mariann Kirch, jumped ahead of Democrat Kathryn Dawkins for the second trustee seat, with Kirch now holding 799 votes to Dawkins’s 775.
According to MLive, officials have stated that the errors in Kent, Kalamazoo, and Leelanau counties are due to human oversight rather than machine faults, except for Calhoun County, which experienced a software issue. In Calhoun, officials explained that the problem arose from a system misconfiguration, where two high-speed absentee ballot tabulators weren’t programmed to aggregate their results. When election workers read in one set of votes, the system inadvertently replaced the first count rather than adding it, leading to 4,600 missing votes in Calhoun County alone.
These discrepancies impacted the race for Michigan’s State House as well. Incumbent Democrat Rep. Jim Haadsma was initially shown as the winner, only for his lead to evaporate once the corrected votes were tallied, ultimately handing the race to Republican challenger Steve Frisbie. The Associated Press subsequently declared Frisbie the winner, a significant pickup for Republicans in the Michigan House.
Tim O’Non confirmed in an interview that Leelanau County’s Clerk Michelle Crocker attributed the issues in their count to a “software glitch,” echoing the explanation offered in Calhoun County. The repercussions of these additional ballots have reached the state level, affecting Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees race. A data error in Allegan County and the addition of the unreported votes in Calhoun have reportedly shifted the unofficial results in one of the trustee positions.
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As Michigan addresses these new findings, voters are calling for greater transparency and accountability. The latest revelations of unreported votes, attributed to both human errors and software glitches, have intensified calls for election reform in the state. For Michigan voters, confidence in the electoral process remains a critical issue, one that these latest discrepancies have placed front and center.
Note: This story is still developing as Michigan’s election offices review and verify all reported discrepancies.
