School Board Election Results Unclear - UPDATE

This article was updated to add the final three paragraphs at 4:45 pm, Thursday November 6.

Results are still somewhat unclear concerning the November 4 East Lansing School Board election.

At 3:03am, MLive posted an article indicating that “East Lansing races [were] too close to call” at the time, but named Kate Powers, Karen Hoene, Yasmina Bouraoui and Nell Kuhnmuench as the winners of four open seats.

At 6:53 am, East Lansing Info posted a brief article stating the same results. That statement was based on unofficial figures reported by Ingham and Clinton Counties.

Lansing State Journal (LSJ) posted similar results at 10:37am, indicating Powers was the clear victor with 3,919 votes (15%), while Bouraoui (with 3,681 votes, 14%) and Hoene (with 3,703 votes, at 14%) trailed just slightly behind. Nell Kuhnmuench was posted as winning 3,641 votes, at 14%. LSJ reported 3,305 votes for Kyle Guerrant, at 13%, with 22 of 22 precincts reporting. Unofficial results reported by Ingham County on November 4 echoed the same results as LSJ’s.

The figures quoted in the LSJ article did not take into account results from the Clinton County portion of East Lansing, which were reported HERE. But the Clinton County votes did not change the results stated by ELi and LSJ.

At 7:17pm this evening, as well as on their morning news program, WLNS New 6 reported different findings. Their election results had Powers, Bouraoui, Hoene, and Guerrant as the winners of the East Lansing School Board elections. Guerrant’s total votes are reported at 2,617 on the site, with Kuhnmuench following close behind at 2,571.

This conflicting data leaves the East Lansing community with many questions regarding official election results. ELi will continue to offer coverage on the topic and will follow this story through to resolution. We have an inquiry into local election officials and hope to have results in the morning.

UPDATE:

ELi contacted Guerrant on Wednesday evening for comment regarding these conflicting findings. In an email reply this morning, Guerrant commented, “Thanks for reaching out. I’m just as confused as others right now. I’ve been getting messages and calls tonight asking me what the official story is. I’ve assumed all day that I had fallen short of being one of the top four. Given the questions about the results, I will be reaching out to the county clerk shortly.”

City Clerk Marie Wicks responded to ELi’s request for clarification this morning. She states, “This is most concerning to me and I will be notifying the county of these discrepancies as the Board of Canvassers is reviewing our election results. I believe that the county will have the final say and will keep you informed and updated regarding this issue.”

In a further update this afternoon, Wicks said “I communicated with Clerk Byrum and she maintains that the results published by the county are correct but unofficial until the canvass is complete.. You can find the results at The Ingham County Results Site.” Those results indicate Kate Powers, Karen Hoene, Yasmina Bouraoui and Nell Kuhnmuench are the winners of the four open seats on the East Lansing School Board.

Disclosure: Rebecca J. McAndrews has two children who attend East Lansing Public Schools and is a substitute teacher for the district.