The Alger County Commission voted into a three-way tie for the county’s Republican Party canvasser, meaning an already complicated procedure will require more steps to complete.

David LaMere of Rumely was voted on by Chair Dean Seaberg, Dawn Rondeau of Eben Junction was chosen by D. Michael Nettleton and Rebecca Wilder of Au Train Township was selected by Mick Rondeau, meaning all received one vote from the three Alger County Commissioners that were available for the county commission meeting on Monday, Sept. 18. The situation prevented any of the three nominees to be elected to the Alger County Board of Canvassers, which helps oversee elections in the county.

The result of the election will now force the Alger County Republican Party to either stay with the three nominations already submitted, submit new names for the role or some combination of the two. According to state law, the decision will now be made by County Clerk Joel VandeVelde. The local GOP needs to respond within 10 days of notification of the party chair, which is LaMere.

Unlike the GOP canvasser, the Alger County Democratic nomination went through smoothly. John Tait of Munising won 3-0 over former Alger County Commissioner Katherine “Kappy” Laing. The two submitted the exact same form letter with no other context for their nomination.

Numerous questions were asked by the county commission at previous meetings due to conflicting language between the canvasser voting procedure and the Open Meetings Act and procedural concerns by both political parties in their nominating process. According to Alger County Prosecutor Rob Steinhoff, the county should stay away from any partisan politics concern and err on the side of caution to the Open Meetings Act based on when the specific laws were written.