Update: Wednesday, August 6, 5:45 p.m.
There may still be legal challenges ahead, but it appears Flint is close to filling a city council seat that has sat empty for nearly a year, creating an even split on the council that has stalled city business.
Since the sudden death of Councilman Quincy Murphy ten months ago, Flint city government has been caught in a stalemate.
The winner of Tuesday’s vote will restore a tie-breaking vote on the city council. But a write-in candidate receiving the most votes added another delay.
The Genesee County Board of Canvassers agreed Wednesday that write-in candidate LaShawn Johnson did receive more votes than the two candidates whose names were on the ballot. But it will be at least next week before the election is certified, and legal challenges may keep the process in limbo longer.]
Original story: Tuesday, August 5, 11:40 p.m.
At this point, there is no winner in Tuesday’s election to fill Flint’s third ward City Council seat. The seat has been vacant since last September.
Of the ballots cast in Tuesday’s election, 44% were for write-in candidates — easily more votes than for either of the two candidates, Beverly Biggs-Leavy and AC Dumas, whose names were on the ballot.
But it’s unclear if any of the write-in candidates has enough votes to win.
The Genesee County Board of Canvassers will begin the process of reviewing the write-in ballots Wednesday to certify the names written in. it’s a process that may take until next week to complete.
Last September, Flint city Councilman Quincy Murphy died, leaving an empty seat. Since then, the City Council has been divided between two factions. They couldn’t even decide on someone to temporarily replace Murphy, and they missed a legal deadline for passing a city budget, nearly resulting in hundreds of city employees being laid off.
Biggs-Leavy and Dumas received 165 votes in a primary earlier this year. The winner will provide a fifth vote needed to break a tie that has stalled city business for nearly a year.
LaShawn Johnson, an official write-in candidate, finished third in the primary — just two votes behind the winners.
