Accountability in Counting

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, but I'm sick to death of people who are desperate to solve problems that don't exist. Exhibit A at the moment is the Georgia Election Board's insistence on hand-counting ballots after they've been scanned on election day ... they appear to believe in the fantasy that the optical scanners that record votes somehow don't work properly, and that they have to be double-checked by human counters.

What a crock.

Now, I don't know what the precinct-level procedures are in Georgia, but I know what they are here in Virginia, and I don't imagine Georgia is much different. Here's how we ensure the ballot count is accurate in the Old Dominion:

1. On the morning of Election Day, each precinct receives its blank ballots in one or more sealed boxes. The number delivered is an estimate based on the number of registered voters and the anticipated percentage of those that will probably vote. Let's say, for argument's sake, that the box contains 2,000 ballots. Should we run short, the precinct Chief can order more blank ballots as needed. 

2. The box is opened by two people to reveal those 2,000 ballots in shrink-wrapped packages of 100. Before the polls open, one package is opened and the blank ballots are separately counted by two election officers (EOs). We have never, in all the years I've been working elections, had a package of ballots containing an incorrect number ... if the counts don't match, it's always been because one or the other EO made a mistake in counting. The counts are repeated until we're sure they're accurate.

3. New packages of 100 are opened only when the last package is almost empty, and are counted and verified before they are handed out to voters.

4. Ideally, at the end of the day, all the numbers have to match: the number of blank ballots handed out to voters must equal the number of voters who signed in, which must in turn equal the number of ballots recorded by the optical scanners. That number, added to the number of blank ballots that were not issued, must equal 2,000.

Of course, it's never quite that easy. Here are a few things that can complicate that count*:

1. A voter accidentally marks his ballot incorrectly, and asks for a new ballot. In this case, the original ballot is clearly marked "SPOILED," and placed in a separate envelope for accounting before the voter is issued a new ballot.

2. A voter makes extraneous marks or doodles on the ballot that prevent the scanner from reading it. When the scanner rejects it, the voter brings it to the precinct chief, who marks it "SPOILED" and puts it with the other spoiled ballots before issuing the voter a new ballot. 

3. A voter in a hurry shoves her ballot into the scanner and takes off before the scan is complete. If the ballot is rejected by the scanner and we can't catch the voter before she disappears, the ballot is marked "SPOILED" and put with the other spoiled ballots. 

4. A certain number of voters are issued "provisional" ballots for various reasons, such as: the voter registered on election day; the voter’s registration status could not be verified at the polls; or a voter could not (or refused to) provide a valid photo ID. Provisional ballots are not scanned at the precinct on election day, but are sent to the county Board of Elections for adjudication and counting after Election Day. 

So ...

After the polls close, the number of ballots recorded by the scanner may well not - for any number of perfectly valid reasons - match the number of blank ballots handed out, and a hand count of scanned ballots may not match the number of blank ballots handed out to voters. Adding a superfluous hand count of scanned ballots is a useless waste of time, and only provides fodder for those who are desperately looking for a reason to believe in their fever dream of voter fraud.

Bottom line: quit talking about things you don't understand. Cast your vote and trust** the integrity of your fellow citizens who spent the time and effort to be trained in proper voting procedures ... and who, unlike you, took an oath to do the right thing.

Have a good day. Vote. And shut the hell up unless you know what you're talking about. 

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* This is not an exhaustive list.

** This is the true damage done to the nation by Der Furor and his relentless refusal to accept rejection - the undermining of trust in our institutions and in each other.