2004 Ballot Recount: Observer Report

• December 15, 2004:
  Report by Green Party Observer

December 15, 2004:
Report by Green Party Observer

On December 15, 2004, I witnessed recount proceedings in Huron County. The Supervisor for the Huron Board of Elections is Kathleen Brady.

When I arrived, I asked if the three precincts to be hand counted had been selected. I was told that three of the election board members had each picked a precinct to be counted.

I remarked that this was not a random selection.

I then asked if we would get to witness the testing of the punchcard tabulator. I was told by Kathleen Brady that the testing had been done on the previous day. She went on to say that the testing was observed by a witness.

I said, "What witness?" She said that it was witnessed by the Republican witness. I remarked that I was supposed to observe the test as well.

When the hand count finally began, the ballots were being counted by two Democrats and two Republicans.

Standing in the doorway was Myke Clarett. Mr. Clarett works for [Ohio Secretary of State] Kenneth Blackwell out of the Cleveland Regional office. The first precinct was counted and all election workers came up with different totals.

At this point, Mr. Clarett sat down at the head of the table and took over the proceedings. He instructed the Director, Kathleen Brady and the 3 other election members to recount the precinct. At certain intervals, Mr. Clarett would ask that the votes be tallied. We went on to precinct #2 and these ballots were counted as was precinct #3. We then went into the next room to witness the machine count, starting with precinct #1 then #2 then #3.

The tabulator jammed about five or six times each time a precinct was counted. Each time it jammed, the machine had to be reset. The totals for precincts #1 and #3 were off by one vote. We then returned to the other room. At this point, Mr. Clarett asked me if I wanted them to conduct another hand recount. I asked if I could make a phone call. I wanted to be sure about the number of hand recounts as it seemed we had already recounted precinct #1 twice.

When I returned, I instructed Mr. Clarett to go ahead conduct another hand count. At this point, Mr. Clarett became very irate. He asked me for my last name, which I had to repeat twice. After they counted a group of ballots, he looked at me and said "Well Mike, is this transparent enough for you?" I said that it was.

Another group of ballots was counted and he asked what my total was. He repeated this and kept remarking that this was for my benefit. At this point I decided the badgering had gotten out of hand and I remarked "You asked if I thought this was a transparent process and I replied that it was. I am here to observe the count. I am not allowed to touch the ballots, but if you would like me to trade places with one of your board members, I will. Your hand count did not match the machine count. That is why we are recounting by hand." At this point, Mr. Clarett simply put up his hands and said "OK."

In precinct #3, an extra ballot was found "stuck" to another. Mr. Clarett then instructed Kathleen Brady to blow out the tabulating machine. He then exclaimed that a chad had been dislodged and that it was probably causing the problem. Precinct #3 was then recounted and the hand count matched. Precinct #1 was then tabulated and the hand count matched the machine count. It's worth pointing out that precinct #1 was hand-counted three times. Precinct #3 was hand counted two times. Each precinct was machine counted two times.

I then asked to see the poll book to compare the number of total voters with the number of provisional, absentee, and overseas ballots. I was told that they would be closing in ten minutes, so I asked to see two precincts. Everything looked OK. I then asked if I could have copies of each precinct total. This was 55 pages. I will forward this info ASAP. I was at first told they could not have this info because it included SS numbers. I asked them to black it out and they complied.

The machine count for the entire county was proceeding very slowly, so I asked them to fax me that info when they were finished. I stayed about 30 minutes more after they closed. I found the Director and her election workers at Huron County to be cordial and polite. I found Mr. Clarett's actions to be heavy handed and sometimes quite rude.