Long wait for election results likely ahead for Lansing voters

Lansing voters planning to watch the election results roll in on Tuesday should prepare for a long night. The nearly-midnight primary election results in August were no fluke, Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope said.

Lansing election results are reported by the Ingham County Clerk’s office, which must first receive them from Swope’s office. Until February of 2024, Swope’s office would wirelessly send precinct results over to the county as soon as they came in — but amid growing concerns around election security, the county started doing it the old-fashioned way.

“The Ingham County Clerk, with all the security concerns, has determined that we will no longer remote any results to them,” Swope said. “So the results are being physically taken to the county clerk for uploading into their election results computer.”

That means an employee downloads the election results onto a storage device, seals that in a Board of County Canvassers-approved container and drives to the county’s office in Mason. While the process is more secure, Swope said, it’s also less incremental because it is no longer convenient to report results as soon as they come in.

Before the change, “very early in our process, we would get the results files and upload them,” Swope said. “We used to have early precincts come in, and then they would just keep getting added. Now it’s more likely they all get reported pretty much at the same time.

“This is definitely slowing that down.”

Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum did not respond to requests for comment.

While the process could theoretically mean City Clerk employees know the results long before the general public, Swope said he and staff “really don’t have time” to peek at them. The absent voter counting board, which tabulates absentee ballots on election day, stores their data on only two files, which he can read and partially upload. But the precinct results would be a headache to decipher.

“In this election, there’s 22 different tapes we would have to look at and try to do math in our head,” Swope said. “So those just go directly to the county and they upload them.”

On Tuesday (Nov. 4), Lansing residents will choose between incumbent Mayor Andy Schor and challenger Kelsea Hector, elect two at-large City Council candidates and choose whether to adopt the proposed city charter. The 2nd and 4th Ward City Council seats are also up for grabs.

Voters can preview their ballot and find their polling place at lansingvotes.gov. Early voting began Saturday and will take place again today (Wednesday) from 1-7 p.m. at the Lansing Elections Office at 701 W. Jolly Rd, as well as Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

Despite record turnout for August’s primary election, lines were relatively short at the polls due to a shift toward absentee voting, Swope said, so voters should expect smooth sailing at the polls.

Just don’t expect the results fast.