Courtesy Photo Alcona County Board of Canvassers recount votes on Tuesday for a race from the August primary election. The recount showed that the race for Caledonia Township Supervisor votes did not change.

ALPENA — The Alcona County Board of Canvassers held a recount on Tuesday for the race for Caledonia Township Supervisor from the August primary election, and it did not change the vote total at all.

After the board of canvassers certified the vote totals the day after the election last month, it showed the incumbent Cyndi Apsey, a Republican, defeated fellow Republican Julie Grubbs 274-122.

Grubbs challenged her total number of votes because she questioned the handling of the poll book by the township clerk, which set the stage for the recount.

Grubbs needed the board of canvassers to find 153 votes to have her overtake Apsey.

Apsey will run unopposed in November’s general election unless a write-in candidate enters the race.

A message was left with Grubbs seeking comment on Monday.

Alcona County Clerk Stephany Eller said on Tuesday that having a recall for a race that was generally lop-sided was kind of unprecedented because most people only request a recount in a very close race.

She said finding the votes Grubbs claimed were miscounted was a longshot, but, she added, it was Grubb’s right to have the count redone.

In her request for a recount, Eller said, Grubbs wrote that she questioned the handling of the election results when they were in the Caledonia Clerk’s office on election night. Eller said apparently Grubb believed the clerk mishandled the voting results because she was standing by the poll book. As the lead official for local elections, local clerks have the power to monitor and use the poll book to address any issues.

“Having access to the poll book is her statutory duty and she has the right to do it,” Eller said. “She needs to have that power to help solve any issues from the polls.”

Apsey, who has been supervisor for the township since 2018, said at first, when she learned about the recall, she was upset because she believed it showed Grubb’s distrust in the election workers who work hard and accurately on election day.

“It implies that they didn’t do their job and they all do a great job,” Apsey said.

After settling down, Apsey said the recount could be a blessing in disguise because the board of canvassers recount shows the numbers were accurate and it will increase trust in the local elections system as a result.

“People will be able to see that the election workers did their job and there was no election interference,” she said.

Recounts are rare in Alcona County, Eller said. She said the last recount was five years ago for a county commissioner’s seat and after the board of canvassers re-tallied the votes, only one vote, from a total of almost 950, was found to be miscounted.

Although Grubbs had to pay a $250 recount fee for the one precinct, there will still be a cost to Alcona County that will be passed on to Caledonia Township. Eller said the per diems for the people conducting the recount will be paid for by the taxpayers in the township.

Eller added that the recount also put stress on her staff because she, as well as her deputy county clerk and deputy clerk, will help to recount the votes. She said that only left one person in the office to conduct business, which is not ideal. Eller said the office is always busy, but especially so on the eve of the November election and absentee voting kicking off on Sept. 26.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.