Review Magazine - Politics

Saginaw County Board of Canvassers Certify a Flawed Election

By Robert E Martin

While the eyes of the world are being refocused and opened to the

inaccuracies of voting tabulation with the Presidential Race in Florida,

voters in Saginaw can rest assured that Carl M. Williams, winner of the

95th District State House of Representatives contest during the August

primary, will also take office in January under an equally disturbing

shroud of circumstances.

To make matters worse, Saginaw County's Board of Canvassers, consisting of

Republicans Ernest Miller and Shirley Iler and Democrats Deb Sangster &

Frank Higgins, certified the election results while refusing to perform

recounts in seven of the 95th District precincts, with five of those

precincts in areas likely to favor Schrems.

The Canvassers declined to perform the recounts in these precincts based

upon a State Statute that requires the numbers of all ballots to match

either the poll books or computer printouts.  At St. Stephens's precinct,

for example, three ballots were discovered from Salinas School, therefore

according to the State Law, the precinct could not be open to a recount.

When Del Schrems appealed the decision of the Canvassers to Saginaw County

Circuit Judge William Crane, Crane ruled that he had no jurisdiction under

the state statute to interfere with the Canvassers.

Subsequently, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers finally certified the

election.

Schrems Presents His Case

When asked why he did not formulate an appeal of the County

decision to the State Board of Canvassers, Del Schrems is candid: "The

truth is, I ran out of money."

"Frankly, I had to tell the State Election Bureau what to do every step of

the way," he continues. "I had 21 days to appeal the County decision prior

to certification by the State Board, which former Saginaw County Democratic

Party Chairman Stephen Borrello was sitting on, and I didn't get a letter

until about a week prior to the deadline informing me they intended to

certify the election."

The Review attempted to contact Borrello on several occasions, but he did

not return our calls.

Schrems claims that the primary reason the County Board of Canvassers

failed to continue with the recounts is because they were under the

impression they were prohibited from doing so under State law.

"It is my understanding that Charles Bell from the State Board told Ernie

Miller that he could not count those precincts when in fact he could. The

State Board told Miller he had to follow state rules, when in actuality

their ability to conduct a recount was discretionary.  Unfortunately, this

was discovered after the hearing and after Judge Crane's decision."

The View from the Judge

Although holding a 'non-partisan' seat, Judge William Crane is an active

Republican. Years ago I remember sitting in his office conducting an

interview and seeing a photo with the judge and then President George Bush.

So when I asked Crane about why his authority did not permit him to

intervene and demand a recount, especially when the purpose of our Courts

are to remedy statutory inequities through interpretation, I was curious

how he would respond.

What I discovered is that Crane is genuinely disturbed about the outcome of

this important local race.

"State law pre-empted my involvement. I could not substitute my judgement

from that of the Board of Canvassers," he responds.

"But frankly I was disturbed that the Saginaw City Council could not offer

protections nor come to apply relief to a flawed system."

"Yes, it is true that the decision to proceed with a recount was

discretionary on the County Board of Canvassers," continues Crane.

"They could have required the City of Saginaw to come in and do a recount

and they also could have appealed directly to Mr. Bell had the candidate

not done so. "

"But what disturbed me even more is that there was no court file," states

Crane. "I could not see a record of where the Canvassers even took a vote.

Apparently they closed the session and did everything off the record;

whereas usually, these proceeding have a 'record' which can be followed."

Niederstadt Equally Disturbed

Originally, the Review tried to contact Ernie Miller, only missed his

return phone call.  Eventually, we contacted Frank Higgins from the County

Board of Canvassers, who declined to be interviewed and requested we send

all inquiries to Saginaw County Clerk Roland Niederstadt.  As Saginaw

County's chief election official whose responsibilities include overseeing

elections, Niederstadt was equally disturbed about the city's flaws.

"First, in terms of 'discretion', the only discretion that the State of

Michigan allows for is if there is an 'explanation' for why the problems

existed.  This explanation was provided for in the Board of Canvassers

Report, and it is squarely lodged on the type of equipment that the City of

Saginaw is using."

"Additionally, the attorneys for Mr. Schrems and the County could have

asked about discretion during the hearing, but they refrained from doing

so."

According to Niederstadt, the City uses a less expensive 4C System that

differs from the Optiscan System used by the rest of Saginaw County.  In

Niederstadt's opinion, the current city system counts 400 ballots a minute

and is prone to mechanical error.  Back when he took office in 1992, he

says he tried to urge communities to move away from the 'punch card' system

and into the more accurate & efficient 'optiscan' system.  Most other

governing units signed up for the new system at a cost of $6-$7,000 per

precinct, but because of the so-called city 'budget crunch' city officials

bought into a less expensive system whereby poll workers bring ballots to

City Hall central computers.

"The current city system will skip ballots, spit them out, and also jam in

the equipment," notes Niederstadt. "It is a system designed for counting

absentee ballots and every other governing unit in the State has abandoned

them, even for that purpose, with the exception of two precincts in Wayne

County."

"As for Judge Crane's concern about the lack of a 'record' existing at the

hearing," continues Niederstadt,"we took verbatim transcripts that were

presented in Court after the appeals by Mr. Schrems & Mr. Williams. The

Canvassers were saying they would certify the race with numbers based after

the appeal, so when they did certify it was based on those challenges along

with certified verbatim hearings, as opposed to direct transcripts."

"All the County Board of Canvassers does is canvas the election. When the

number of ballots failed to match the poll books, the Canvassers went to

the City and asked for an explanation. The Canvassers asked the Saginaw

City Clerk why they were unable to determine the imbalance, and their

remarks were that they 'could not tell us.'

"Many precincts will be off one or two ballots, but it doesn't really

matter unless one is in a closely contested contest," notes Niederstadt.

"The only requirement that the State Board of Canvassers is looking for is

an explanation of the problem.  Unlike Florida, Michigan is not a 'voter

intent' state," stresses Niederstadt.

"What truly does bother me, though, is that the system was undercounting.

That simple fact should have been the overriding factor in terms of

allowing a recount," concludes Niederstadt.

"But had they decided to recount there would have been an appeal, and had

Mr. Schrems appealed, it could have been denied by the State Board of

Canvassers on the basis of this existing State Election Law."

Disturbing Questions Remain

When the Review phoned Charles Bell at the State Board of Canvassers, he

was hesitant to speak 'on the record', noting that it is Governor Engler's

policy to have all such questions directed through the Secretary of State's

office.

Bell did offer two observations, though. First, that it would be illegal

for the City to change voter equipment prior to an election, even if it is

known to be flawed.; and secondly, that both Schrems or Williams could have

directly appealed the County Board of Canvasser decision to the State Board.

According to Bell, Mr. Schrems did file an appeal, but he did not bother to

show up at the State hearing.

"Many things disturb me about this election," adds Del Schrems.  "I could

have mailed my appeal out to the State Board, but was told that it had to

be 'personally' delivered. What if a candidate lived up in Copper Harbor

and was contesting a certification?  Does that mean he would have to drive

all the way down to Lansing with a deadline?"

"I did drive down to Lansing for my appeal, but a family obligation

prevented me from appearing the day the State hearing was scheduled, and

again, I figured I'd spent enough money and didn't wish to spend anymore."

In terms of the flawed voting system in the City of Saginaw, Schrems

remains disgusted.

"It isn't City Clerk Yolanda Olgine's fault that she inherited such a

troubled system," notes Schrems.

"She's ran three elections thus far and every one of them has had problems.

During the last election when I ran for re-election to City Council at one

point I was tied for fifth place with Dan Soza, when the next day I was up

to second place, getting even more votes than Gary Loster. But it's the

system. You have to train people.  Bev Bradley, the former City Clerk, had

that equipment working, but the Council cut the budget and dropped the

Assistant Clerk position, so when Yolanda inherited the job, she went into

it raw."

"That night at City Hall I had several people testify about ballots being

placed in improper boxes. Now I ask you, how did that happen?"

"The City needs to start getting serious and they need to form priorities.

The 1st Ward Community Center precinct had about 15 people voting in the

Primary, and it should be closed. "

"The City claims they are going to cut down the number of precincts and

update the equipment, but we've heard that all before.  It's just like the

Library System. The majority of the usage is at Butman Fish and Hoyt, but

if you look at closing an under utilized branch to save money and shore up

the validity of your system, politically it becomes impossible to do in

Saginaw.

"But, if anything good comes out of this, it is the fact that this race has

opened peoples' eyes to something in Saginaw that has been going on for a

long time."

Conclusions:

Faith in the System?

As the case with the Florida Primary and the Presidential Election

in the year 2000 have demonstrated, what we are witnessing is a trial that

tests the very fundamental basis of our democracy.

If people look at why slightly less than half of our country bothers to

vote and exercise the right that our forefathers have fought & died for,

both the situation in Saginaw and Florida exist as sterling examples.

State Representative Jim Howell mentioned to me while discussing this issue

at the recent Citizens Bank Corned Beef Luncheon that perhaps Lansing needs

to look at changing the laws.

A good place to start would be to consider moving to 'Voter Intent' in

Michigan, as opposed to statutory requirements that obliterate the notion

of 'consent' that the very authority of legislators to govern is based upon.

Obviously, on a local level, the City needs to quit playing this sick ruse

of budgetary shell games and invest in equipment that maintains and

re-establishes the integrity of not only its infrastructure, but also its

very right to govern.

And finally, we need to hope that Carl Williams is able to take office in

January with both a clear conscience and an even clearer understanding that

in order to unify competing interests, you first have to guarantee to them

that their voices are being heard.