Mark Grebner opposed selecting a new member to the board of canvassers during the Oct. 12 board of commissioners meeting. Democratic members of the Ingham County board of commissioners didn’t believe the original Republican candidates would respect the integrity of the upcoming November election.
Kate Townley
Mark Grebner has experience in various political fields, becoming known for his role creating voter lists with Practical Political Consulting.Previous interviews with the candidates did not convince the Democratic board majority, and therefore the board of commissioners requested the Ingham County Republican Party send three new Republican candidates.
Grebner, Democrat, serves District 8 and has more than 30 years of experience as a county commissioner. In the meeting, he was vocal about the need to select candidates that would support the integrity of Ingham County elections.
“You might not want to have someone on the board of canvassers that is so stubborn,” Grebner said after the meeting.
Grebner said he wasn’t convinced the candidates originally set before them would fulfill the part of their job that required working together with others.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum also supported the request for new candidates. She said the board of commissioners want people on the board of canvassers who have a critical eye but can still get along with others.
“We need reasonable individuals who respect the election administration,” said Byrum.
Byrum and Grebner want to find the right person for the job, since the board of canvassers has an important role on the back end of elections. They check the work done by other county officials and ultimately certify election results.
“[They are] another set of eyes on the results,” said Byrum.
Because of their role in the certification of elections, Grebner said the board of canvassers will not get anywhere if the people on it aren’t flexible.
Michigan Advance writer and former member of the state board of canvassers, Jeff Timmer, said the wrong people on a board of canvassers can create deadlocks and prevent the verification of election results.
“If they simply do their job, it goes without notice,” Timmer said.
However, in looking at a wider scope, Timmer said people are being put into important positions with intentions of creating chaos surrounding election legitimacy. Timmer referred to the idea of elections being illegitimate as the “big lie.”
“Over the years, we’ve gotten better at finding [errors], so there have been fewer and fewer inaccuracies,” said Timmer.
Kate Townley
The board of canvassers are the last line of defense before elections are considered final. They are not to be confused with the election commission, which handles a different set of verifications.He said he believes in the election results and that all election proceedings are transparent, with many safeguards in place to secure the results. And yet as far as the public goes, Timmer said he fears that there won’t be an election for a very long time in which results are not questioned.
That’s why Byrum and Grebner are advocating to select the right person for the open spot on the Ingham County board of canvassers. Byrum said she looks for warning signs that suggest a candidate might cause unrest surrounding elections. With the November election approaching quickly, she said they want to make the best choice they can.
For, as Timmer said, “it’s a job that is little known but can be a very important position.”