2004 Ballot Recount: Observer Report

• December 16, 2004:
  Report by Green Party Observer

December 16, 2004:
Report by Green Party Observer

Observer C., the co-coordinator of Clinton County, observed the recount on Monday. The recount began at 7 am and there was one counting team. She was the only one allowed to observe from the Cobb campaign, and Observer M., who arrived a few minutes later, was turned away.

There wasn't anyone from the Kerry campaign, although there was someone from the Bush campaign, who she said was very chummy with the BoE. Observer C. is a very confident young woman from San Francisco, but she said she felt like an outsider and intimidated by the BoE and the whole process. She said the director of the BoE, who is a Democrat, seemed very defensive at first, but later was less so.

She said the count went very quickly, both manually and by machine. She said the person running the tabulator was very quick and seemed to be very much in control. She didn't know who the manufacturer of the tabulator was.

The manual count and the machine count matched up. She forgot to ask about seeing absentee ballots, but when she asked about provisionals, she was told that they were mixed in the hand and machine count. She did examine the poll books, and didn't note any glaring irregularities or discrepancies. The count was finished by 9:30 am.