Kochenderfer Wins County Commission Seat After Error Caught
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Nov. 11, 2020)
Rochester Hills, MI – County Commissioner Adam Kochenderfer thought he lost the election Tuesday, but today Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown announced that indeed the incumbent had won after an error was corrected.
According to a press release by Oakland County, “The error occurred when a local clerk sent ballot totals for seven precincts in Rochester Hills to the County twice. The first set of results were labeled as precinct ballots, the second set was labeled as absentee ballots. However, they were the same batch of ballots which were, in fact, absentee ballots.”
“This is proof that our process of checks and balances works. A methodical canvass is an essential tool to ensure an accurate count and precise results”, said Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown.
Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett sent a statement on behalf of the City, saying “There was a technical glitch when a file was saved and sent to the County. We discovered this around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. We notified the County immediately and asked that the website be corrected. All votes were counted fairly and accurately and are reflected in the current vote total.”
Originally Kochenderfer was thought to have lost to Democrat Melanie Hartman, but after the error was corrected, the unofficial results have him as the victor by 1,127 votes. The position is for the 15th District which includes Rochester and Rochester Hills.