(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/07/2024) Unofficial election night results published on the Secretary of State's website mistakenly under-counted the votes for Michigan State University Trustee candidate Democrat Rebecca Bahar-Cook by close to 18,000 votes in Allegan County and 8,517 votes in Ottawa and Kent. The other candidates also gained votes in Ottawa and Kent, as well. 

With the updated numbers, the prominent Lansing area fundraiser has more recorded votes than the initially declared winner, Republican Julie Maday, presumably earning Bahar-Cook the second trustee seat. 

A review of the county-by-county results on the Secretary of State's website has Bahar-Cook receiving 2,363 votes from Allegan County for a statewide total of 2,388,312. However, results from the Allegan County clerk has Bahar-Cook receiving 20,363 votes, a change of 18,000. 

Over in Kent, all the major-party MSU Board candidates picked up between 6,820 and 5,723 votes between what the county clerks have and what the Secretary of State has. In Ottawa County, the major-party MSU trustee candidates reported between 1,697 and 2,094 additional votes. 

Once all these changes were inputted, Republican Mike Balow is still the top vote-getter with 2,479,816 votes. Bahar-Cook, though, is now No. 2 with 2,414,829. Maday is at 2,410,627 and Thomas Stallworth is at 2,251,520.  

Presuming there are no other errors uncovered in the canvassing process, Bahar-Cook would have the votes to be on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees, joining Balow, who received the most unofficial votes. With Bahar-Cook on the board, the partisan makeup of the MSU board would be 7-1 in favor of Democrats. 

The following is a Google Spreadsheet with the county-by-county MSU Board of Trustees results cut and pasted from the SOS site. The spreadsheet now includes all of the correct county numbers. 

“As someone who has served on the Ingham County Board of Canvassers, I have confidence in our elections and it's good to see that the checks and balances work,” Bahar-Cook said. “I believe in the certification process that all counties complete, along with the state board of canvassers, will confirm that I finished in the top two.” 

The Secretary of State's office acknowledged on Thursday that the state site is incorrect, and it appears to be a data entry error by the county user.  

“We will get a full explanation as soon as possible,” said spokesperson Angela Benander.