Sorry to dredge this up, but...

[Silverlily]

I read an article this morning about the manual recount in Florida. Election workers are taking incorrectly punched ballots (i.e. dimpled or chads not completely removed) and separating them into "Maybe Gore" or "Maybe Bush" piles. Ok, that's sounds fair. But then, they are canvassing the neighborhoods these ballots came from to see if the voters meant Bush, Gore, or neither.

My question is twofold.

1. How do they know whom the ballot belongs to? Are they just taking a general consensus of the neighborhood? Wouldn't that give people who didn't bother to vote the first time a say in the outcome?

2. I thought a re-vote was out of the question as it gave voters a chance to change their minds based on post-election information. Couldn't this be essentially the same thing?

Sorry, I forgot I have a third question,

3. Will this nightmare never end?


[Edited by Kitten Eyes on 11-21-2000 at 05:32 AM]

 

[Magic Merlin]

Thats one of the dangers of any manual recount. Trying to determine the intent of the voter. How in the hell do you determine the intent of a voter when voting is supposed to be anonymous? Thats the main reason any ballot that is not clearly marked should be thrown out. The determination of the intent is left up to those doing the recount.

As for how long this will last? Who knows? Remember! Both of these guys think they were meant to be president, so damn everything else. I just wonder how far Gore will carry this challenge.

 

[Expertise]

I'm frustrated to the point where I wish they would just flip a coin or play rock, paper, scissors.

Of course pistols at dawn would be preferable to either of the aforementioned.

 

[Magic Merlin]

Of course pistols at dawn would be preferable to either of the aforementioned.

I can see it now. Bush and Gore, back to back. Walking away from each other for ten paces, then turn and fire.

Question is? Would either of these two idiots actually wait until the count of 10 before they turned and fired?

 

[R Nitelight]

I'm not sure one of the candidates can count to 10.

 

[*Eve*]

At this point I just think both candidates should flip a coin.

 

[Cheyenne]

Would either of these two idiots actually wait until the count of 10 before they turned and fired?

And once they fired, could they hit the broad side of a barn? Or would they argue who wounded the other more?

 

[Silverlily]

Huh, with any luck, they would both go on the count of one. That way, neither one would miss.

 

[Merelan]

how long is a pace? And, do you turn and fire on ten? Or turn, pause and fire? And what about the pistols? Who loaded them? When were they last cleaned? And what was that person thinking of while he was cleaning them?
Also I would need to know who was the one to count the paces, what their political affiliate is, where do they attend religious service, have they ever run for office?
Come on we need facts.

 

[pandora]

how long is a pace? And, do you turn and fire on ten? Or turn, pause and fire? And what about the pistols? Who loaded them? When were they last cleaned? And what was that person thinking of while he was cleaning them?
Also I would need to know who was the one to count the paces, what their political affiliate is, where do they attend religious service, have they ever run for office?
Come on we need facts.

along those same lines......where would this duel take place. In Flordia, in D.C. where exactly is there a neutral place in America?
What day whould this be on. The first Tuesday in the month, the second?
At what time would it be fair to both parties involved? Is the sun an elephant or donkey?
What if it's raining and the wind is blowing? The rain could therefore interfer with one of their aims.

Again we need to set up rules otherwise we may have to go to the Supreme Court where tax dollars could be spent.

By the way, which ever one wins, will he get a cost of living raise? You know those politians never make enough money.

 

[Silverlily]

Ok, all kidding aside, I would still really like to know how these "recount" tactics are legal.

Please, please, it's driving me crazy.

 

[Sonora]

1. How do they know whom the ballot belongs to? Are they just taking a general consensus of the neighborhood? Wouldn't that give people who didn't bother to vote the first time a say in the outcome?

[Edited by Kitten Eyes on 11-21-2000 at 05:32 AM]

I'm guessing that the ballots remain separated by precinct and ward. This would give them a clue as to which neighborhood they came from. As for asking what the intent of the voters of that neighborhood was, are they actually asking the people of the neighborhood or are they just questioning what has happened in that area historically?

 

[Weird Harold]

1. How do they know whom the ballot belongs to?

I don't think they are taking the time to do it, but (I think) the ballots all have a serial number that can be matched to the voter sign-in log that would allow them to backtrack to the voter for each ballot.

The numbers are there to allow disqualification of a specific ballot if necessary. I.e the voter is disovered to be deceased or otherwise fraudulent. I know for sure that Nevada records a serial number for each ballot in the sign-in log, and Oregon used to have serial numbers on each punch-card ballot. It would be logical that other states have some similar means of retrieving a specific ballot.

 

[Cheyenne]

I know for sure that Nevada records a serial number for each ballot in the sign-in log, and Oregon used to have serial numbers on each punch-card ballot. It would be logical that other states have some similar means of retrieving a specific ballot.

WI doesn't. You are handed a ballot from a stack that some poll worker has pre-signed to authenticate. But he has a stack of them, all shuffled together as he presigns them. I don't remember seeing any kind of a serial number on it- just the signature that says it is valid to use.