SPARTA, Mich. — Sparta Township's library millage renewal passed by a narrow 39-vote margin Tuesday, despite a transcription error that omitted a key word from the ballot language.
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More than 2,000 residents voted on the proposal, which was intended to read "to not exceed 0.2375 mill" but appeared on ballots as "to exceed 0.2375 mill" after the word "not" was left out during transcription.
The error has raised concerns among some neighbors that a higher millage rate than intended could be levied. Township officials have stated they will not levy a millage higher than 0.2375 mill.
Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons said the results remain unofficial until certified, and the county still has six days for overseas absentee ballots to be returned and counted.
"The law requires that any proposal that is passed has to be implemented as it was passed by the voters," Lyons said. "What that means in terms of the language and the execution—that's something that has to be worked out by the jurisdiction and their attorney and that sort of thing. We just know that the voters passed a certain proposal and so it has to be implemented as the voters passed it."
Lyons said any voter can request a recount up to 48 hours after the election is certified.
The election will not be certified until the canvass is finished. That process begins Thursday morning and could take two weeks to complete.
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