2004 Ballot Recount: Observer Report

• December 19, 2004:
  Report by Green Party Observer

December 19, 2004:
Report by Green Party Observer

Bottom line: 1 more vote for Bush, as I recall. Including 13 more provisional ballots that had been rejected and were now accepted, which split pretty evenly between Bush (6) and Kerry (7).

A lot of these misunderstandings could have been solved by a meeting before Tuesday morning with the BOE. This was asked for but refused. A lot of the animosity slowly faded during the day, but the morning was quite intense. We're not sure what could be done about this.

Trouble Spots

Our requests for guidelines for the recount were not accepted by the BOE. It was made very clear that it was their recount, with their rules, and we could only observe. The list from McTigue was filed by the board but not used. Bad beginning feelings.

The three percent was chosen by random by the BOE but not witnessed by us. This made us feel that the BOE had something to hide.

Ballot counting BOE personnel went very fast with the recount. It was difficult to observe everything. BOE personnel were instructed not to speak with witnesses. Communication could only take place between witness and director. This hampered the process.

We saw the overvotes and undervotes of the three percent. We asked to see the remaining 97 percent of overvotes and undervotes, but were not allowed. As a result, we were unable to figure out whether there were any patterns to these uncounted ballots.

The explanation of what was happening in terms of counting, ballot rotation, ballot reconciliation, machine functioning was very, very helpful and done very well. It's a fascinating process.

We did get to see rotation pages and found no problems. Should be noted that employees of BOE had access to these before and after election. Not locked.

We did get to see precinct boxes with all info for ballot reconciliation. We only got to see two, but they were both Okay. Should be noted that employees of BOE had access to these before and after election. Not locked.

We saw some rejected provisionals. Ken said he would check into one ballot that Jen brought into question. They did start to work with us a bit. Should be noted that Blackwell's "correct precinct" ruling really affected this election. Provisionals are rejected with a limited amount of knowledge, without using inferences favorable to the voter, and a fair appeal procedure is not in place. WE NEED TO GET THIS CHANGED BEFORE 2006!

No absentee ballots were seen.

By the end of the day, the BOE people were much more friendly and open with the remaining four witnesses.