From left, Marquette City Commission candidate Margaret Brumm speaks with Marquette County Clerk Linda Talsma as Brumm prepares to sign a petition for a recount of the Aug. 6 Marquette City Commission primary election at the Marquette County Clerk’s Office Monday morning. The recount date remains to be scheduled, county officials said. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — Marquette City Commission candidate Margaret Brumm officially filed a petition Monday for a recount of Aug. 6’s city commission primary election, as the official vote tally saw her miss qualifying for the general election by just over 20 votes. Brumm also filed the official paperwork needed to run as a write-in candidate for November’s general election.

Brumm went to the Marquette County Clerk’s Office Monday morning to file the paperwork and pay the fee for a recount of the votes, which has yet to be officially scheduled, Marquette County Clerk Linda Talsma said.

“I look forward to observing the process and I invite other people to come and observe the process when it’s scheduled,” Brumm said.

Brumm is asking for the recount, she said, as tallies released in the early hours of Wednesday indicated she was qualified for the general election as the candidate with the fourth-most votes. However, unofficial results posted later that morning, as well as results officially verified by the Marquette County Board of Canvassers Wednesday afternoon, indicated Brumm missed qualifying for the general election by 21 votes.

“I’m requesting a recount because of A) the change between the first and second set of results; B) the fact that only 21 votes separate me from the fourth place candidate; and C) to verify the integrity of the vote counting process after several people asked me, ‘What happened?'” Brumm said in an email Wednesday.

The official statement of votes cast indicates candidates Evan Bonsall, Andrew Lorinser, Sally R. Davis and Nina van den Ende remain the top four vote-getters, with 1,738, 962, 817 and 567 votes, respectively. According to the official tally, Brumm was the candidate with the fifth-most votes — 546.

Recount petitions must be submitted no later than the sixth day after the completion of the canvas, election officials said.

Brumm paid an amount of $25 for each of the city’s seven voting precincts, as well as its two absentee ballot precincts — as the number of votes separating her from van den Ende was less than 50 votes, Talsma said. If the recount changes the results, the amount will be refunded to Brumm, according to the Michigan Bureau of Elections.

The Marquette County Clerk’s Office is required to notify opposing candidates of the recount within 24 hours of receiving the petition, Talsma said.

Opposing candidates may submit objections in writing to the recount request on or before 4 p.m. of the seventh day after the original recount is filed. If this occurs, a hearing will be conducted by the county board of canvassers to consider the objections and a ruling is issued within five days after the hearing. If the objections are overturned by the board, the recount may commence after the second business day following the board’s decision, according to the Michigan Bureau of Elections.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is cbrown@miningjournal.net.