'Fraud or errors were committed': Losing Michigan candidate demands recount in GOP primary
An Ottawa County commissioner has requested a recount after losing by more than 1,000 votes in the Aug. 6 Republican primary.
Roger Belknap, an Ottawa Impact Republican, filed a request with the Ottawa County Clerk’s Office on Monday, claiming he believed “fraud or errors were committed” by precinct election inspectors during the voting process.
“My petition for recount is based upon two factors,” Belknap wrote in the complaint. “Reported results indicating my campaign received more votes than my opponent have been sent to me [screenshots] with all precincts being reported in local media.”
Belknap was referencing Grand Rapids-based television station WZZM-13’s incorrect reporting the night of Aug. 6 that erroneously inverted vote totals including the race between Belknap and non-Ottawa Impact Republican opponent Phil Kuyers, before it was corrected the next day.
WZZM screenshot with error WZZM correct screenshot
Belknap, a first-time commissioner, was part of a slate of Ottawa Impact candidates in 2022 who primaried longtime traditional Republicans over frustrations with the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He beat Kuyers by just 300 votes in 2022 (3,027-2,720) to help OI assume a controlling majority on the county’s board of commissioners. Since taking office in January 2023, OI commissioners pushed through a series of controversial decisions, resulting in several lawsuits against the county.
Kuyers ran again this year and beat Belknap by a 16-point margin.
In his recount request, Belknap also pointed to “complications and outages of online reporting being ‘down,’” referring to the county clerk’s website seeing unusually high traffic, which caused load times to stall as results were being reported on election night.
“This petition comes from me, the candidate, at the behest of my campaign, volunteers, party delegates and concerned citizens that all due diligence is taken to confirm results,” Belknap wrote.
The Ottawa County GOP issued a statement on Aug. 15, saying it had the same concerns cited by Belknap — a member of the group’s executive committee — regarding the Aug. 6 primary.
“A motion was made requesting a report from the Election Integrity Subcommittee to address concerns over the recent primary election, given the obvious tech problems the county had with their website crashing through the evening of Aug. 6 amid reports that the local news stations were reporting different results,” the Ottawa GOP statement said.
The statement went on to say that out of 268 delegates, 239 voted to indicate their “lack of trust in the Aug. 6 primary processes,” although there were no specific allegations made or evidence cited.
County Clerk Justin Roebuck said media reports are independent of election processes and that results were sound, regardless of the brief website outage.
“Ottawa County voters can be assured that the integrity of their election results is not affected by a temporary website outage or by the inaccurate reporting of results by a media outlet,” he said Wednesday.
“Our elections are resilient, operating under a system of multiple checks and balances with bipartisan representation. Our elections are transparent, open to public observation at every level where voting and the certification of the vote count is taking place,” Roebuck said.
He confirmed Wednesday that no formal complaints of election fraud or interference have been made with his office regarding the primary election process.
An election recount is a process by which votes cast in an election are re-tabulated to verify the accuracy of the original results. Recounts typically occur in the event of a close margin of victory, following accusations of election fraud, or due to the possibility of administrative errors. In Michigan, recounts occur automatically in statewide races when the difference between the winning and next closest candidate is less than or equal to 2,000 votes.
The Ottawa County Board of Canvassers certified the Aug. 6 primary election results on Monday, triggering a 48-hour window when a recount could be requested.
Roebuck said the recount is expected to cost about $6,000 to complete, as Belknap has requested that all 11 precincts in his district — which includes Grand Haven and Robinson townships as well as a small portion of Spring Lake Township — be recounted, as well as early voting and absentee ballots.
Roebuck said the county must wait until the state board of canvassers certifies the election on Aug. 26, before it can perform the recount, which is expected to take about two days to complete. He estimated that the process could be completed by Aug. 30.
“We look forward to the opportunity to show our voters the accuracy and integrity of their election through the recount process, and encourage everyone to attend and observe,” Roebuck said.
Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck | Courtesy photo
Roebuck said the recount required two counters per precinct and some additional support staff — about 30 total people — to complete the recount in a few days.
Belknap submitted a deposit of $5,000 with his request Monday. The remainder of the costs for the recount would be covered with public monies.
Kuyers, who before losing to Belknap in 2022 had served on the commission for nearly 20 years, said he had confidence that the election process was sound and that his victory would be confirmed.
“I’m not sure why he would do a recount with how many votes that I won by,” Kuyers said. “I know how good Justin Roebuck and his team are; they will show the voters the election was run with integrity and accuracy.”