By EVM Staff
The Genesee County Board of Canvassers has scheduled a recount of the May 6 special primary election results for Flint’s vacant Third Ward City Council seat.
The recount will take place on Thursday, May 22, starting at 9 a.m. in the basement of the Genesee County Administration Building, according to a press release from the Genesee County Clerk/Registrar’s Office.
Genesee County Clerk/Registrar Domonique Clemons confirmed to East Village Magazine on Monday evening that the recount was requested by the primary’s third-place finisher, LaShawn Johnson, who filed the appropriate paperwork on Thursday last week.
Johnson came out of the May 6 primary with 162 votes, while the two top vote-takers, Beverly Biggs-Leavy and A.C. Dumas, finished with 165 each. The last candidate in the pool, Rich Jones, finished a distant fourth with 21 votes.
Whatever the outcome of Thursday’s recount, the two candidates with the most primary votes for the Third Ward seat will face off again in the Aug. 5 general election. The winner will complete the late Councilman Quincy Murphy’s term, which runs through November 18, 2026.
“All candidates in the race and their representatives may attend to observe and make challenges to specific ballots,” Clemons’ press release says about the May 22 recount. “The recount will begin promptly at 9am when instruction and procedure will be provided to those in attendance. We will then move forward recounting each precinct requested.”
The clerk noted that he was unable to give an exact time for when the recount will conclude as it “will vary based on the number of ballots and challenges” during the day. He added that members of the public are welcome to attend and observe in the public viewing space, but they will not be permitted on the floor of the recount area.
The Genesee County Administration building is located at 1101 Beach Street in Flint. More information on Michigan’s recount procedures can be found here.
