Looks like we're going to get a recount in Ohio
The Green party, as one of the losing parties in the presidential race in Ohio, has the ability to request a recount provided they pay for it. The cost of the recount is estimated at $113,600 (the Greens estimate that $150,000 is a better estimate once other expenses are factored in.) As of 9 pm on Sunday night, they have raised $144,640. Heck, it may be over top before anyone sees this. So it looks like it's going to happen.
For the record, I don't expect them to overturn the election, but I do expect them to find some irregularities. Ohio used a variety of voting methods, including punch cards in 70 percent of the precincts. I expect these counts to change, even with a mechanical recount as hanging chads fall out as they go through the machines a second time and cards that were put into the machines backwards are put in the right way. Apparently, there are 93,000 punch card ballots that recorded an undervote for president (i.e. the voter didn't select a candidate.) Apparently Ohio has a uniform standard for counting hanging chads. 0 or1 corners attached count; 2 or more do not.
Ohio also should be able to report the final results soon, including the results of the 155,428 provisional ballots. According to the dKosopedia, they should have finished determining the validity provisional ballots by Friday, and apparently the rules now require them to count provisional ballots missing a date of birth. This is a change from Blackwell's original ruling.
Who is this Blackwell guy? He's the Ohio Secretary of State, and his official website is here. His bio is here. (Read the last line.) He's the guy who decided to invalidate provisional ballots cast at the wrong polling place, provisional ballots missing a date of birth, and voter registrations that weren't printed on 80 lb. cardstock. Brace yourself -- he's a Republican. He rescinded most of these opinions in the face of media attention and threats of legal action under the Voting Rights Act. The Greens have asked him to recuse himself from the recount.
Anyway, I don't think that there will be enough extra votes for Kerry to tip this thing, especially considering that the guy counting the votes is a Bush shill. However, I do think that the added attention will put a spotlight the serious issues of vote suppression and long waits in Democratic precincts, as well as some of the issues reported at VoteProtect. Again, most of these issues are trivial, but a few are really serious. Considering the divided electorate and the quirks of the electoral voting system, I expect close races in the future. We need to be sure that the process is airtight, and this is a great way to shake out the bugs.
Update: The Cobb/Badnarik recount campaign is over the top for filing fees and raising money for travel, lodging and legal support for the actual count. Wheee!
For the record, I don't expect them to overturn the election, but I do expect them to find some irregularities. Ohio used a variety of voting methods, including punch cards in 70 percent of the precincts. I expect these counts to change, even with a mechanical recount as hanging chads fall out as they go through the machines a second time and cards that were put into the machines backwards are put in the right way. Apparently, there are 93,000 punch card ballots that recorded an undervote for president (i.e. the voter didn't select a candidate.) Apparently Ohio has a uniform standard for counting hanging chads. 0 or1 corners attached count; 2 or more do not.
Ohio also should be able to report the final results soon, including the results of the 155,428 provisional ballots. According to the dKosopedia, they should have finished determining the validity provisional ballots by Friday, and apparently the rules now require them to count provisional ballots missing a date of birth. This is a change from Blackwell's original ruling.
Who is this Blackwell guy? He's the Ohio Secretary of State, and his official website is here. His bio is here. (Read the last line.) He's the guy who decided to invalidate provisional ballots cast at the wrong polling place, provisional ballots missing a date of birth, and voter registrations that weren't printed on 80 lb. cardstock. Brace yourself -- he's a Republican. He rescinded most of these opinions in the face of media attention and threats of legal action under the Voting Rights Act. The Greens have asked him to recuse himself from the recount.
Anyway, I don't think that there will be enough extra votes for Kerry to tip this thing, especially considering that the guy counting the votes is a Bush shill. However, I do think that the added attention will put a spotlight the serious issues of vote suppression and long waits in Democratic precincts, as well as some of the issues reported at VoteProtect. Again, most of these issues are trivial, but a few are really serious. Considering the divided electorate and the quirks of the electoral voting system, I expect close races in the future. We need to be sure that the process is airtight, and this is a great way to shake out the bugs.
Update: The Cobb/Badnarik recount campaign is over the top for filing fees and raising money for travel, lodging and legal support for the actual count. Wheee!
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