Meridian Twp. marijuana proposal recount set for Sept. 1-2

TUESDAY, Aug. 23  — Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum said today she has set Sept. 1 and 2 for a recount on Meridian Township’s primary election ballot question on banning marijuana dispensaries, which lost by just 12 votes.

The measure was defeated 6,158 to 6,146. Making up those votes is “not likely at all,” Byrum said.

She said the recount will cost Meridian Township nearly $13,000 to cover paying 44 people to recount the votes cast in the township’s 22 precincts and an Ingham County sheriff's deputy to guard the ballots overnight.

A resident, Carla Galligan, secured the recount with a $1,100 fee, Byrum said. Galligan requested the recount after the county certified the election results, but she had to wait for the state to certify the election, which happened Monday.

Byrum said she will post a Google document today for interested people to sign up. They don't need to live in Meridian Township, and Byrum said she will seek to have a balance of Democrats and Republicans working in two-person teams recounting the ballots.