Editor’s note: This story was edited to clarify who pays the cost of vote recounts.

HOUGHTON — A Houghton precinct will be one of more than 500 statewide to undergo a hand recount for state proposals.

Houghton’s Precinct 2 was named in the recount, the product of a petition filed by Election Integrity Fund and Force to recount votes for Proposals 2 and 3. Proposal 2 expanded voting rights in the state constitution, while Proposal 3 enshrined abortion rights. Both passed in November.

Houghton County is one of 43 included in the Proposal 3 recount. The Proposal 2 recount is narrower, involving only Kalamazoo, Macomb, Muskegon and Oakland counties.

The Houghton recount will only involve the second proposal. There were 1,370 votes in Precinct 2, said Houghton County Clerk Jennifer Kelly.

Jerome Jay Allen of downstate Bloomfield Township filed the petition for the recount, including unproven claims about software altering votes and election equipment being connected to the internet.

State law enables people to obtain recounts provided they pay a $125 deposit per precinct. The recount is funded by The America Project, which has funded lawsuits seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

Based on number of canvassers needed, time worked, travel and other expenses, the cost of a recount greatly exceeds the amount of the initial deposit per precinct statewide. Election law states that each individual county will absorb these recount costs, with some contribution from the state general fund.

The Michigan State Board of Canvassers approved procedures for the recount Monday 3-0, despite criticism from board members. State Board Chair Tony Daunt, a Republican, called the recounts a “fishing expedition” and said the petitioners were not operating in good faith.

In a statement, the EIF said the recount totals would be used to determine future actions, and called the recount “one big step forward for the election integrity movement.”

Houghton’s recount will start at noon Friday in Marquette. Kelly did not know the estimated cost to the county, but said it would pay $75 each for the four canvassers.

With only one measure being recounted, Kelly said the process should be quick.

“Our canvassers, along with myself and the City of Houghton clerk, and whoever she brings, we’re going to go to Marquette, do our jobs, and hopefully see our numbers match 100%,” she said.

Other Upper Peninsula precincts are Marquette precincts 2, 5 and 7 and Chocolay Township Precinct 1 in Marquette County; Sault Ste. Marie precincts 1, 2, and 3 in Chippewa County; Kingsford precincts 1 and 2 and Norway’s Precinct 1 in Dickinson County.