IF:
the ballot was found by an election worker […] on Election Day in a gray secrecy sleeve
THEN:
The elections office [saying] the ballot appeared to be marked for Democrat Kathryn Dodge
was either an act of bad faith or deeply stupid.
So, I have some questions:
- What is a secrecy envelope and why was it used here?
- How did that ballot not go through the scanner on the 6th?
- Is that ballot one of the 366 issued on the 6th?
- What does “appears to be marked” mean, and how does that differ from “is marked”?
Personally, I think that if (MP) only 365 ballots were counted, and (mp) the ballot is one of the 366 issued on election day, then you count the full set of 366 ballots and get your answer. It’s pretty simple, really.
A mystery ballot. How quintessentially American.
We do chicken elections right.™
I knew Florida. Florida was…
…Alaska, you’re no Florida. It’s too cold for bananas up there.
On the other one the intent of the voter seems pretty clear as well. (I expect you can say anything but “appears to be marked” until someone in authority certifies something.)
I don’t know if Alaska is the same, but here in Hawaii, you’re given a ballot and a sleeve (actually one long piece of paper folded over, so that it can cover all but the very top of the ballot). After you’ve marked it, you put it in the sleeve so the poll workers and other voters can’t see how you voted, and when you get to the scanning machine you take it out and run it through the machine, which alerts you if there are any overvotes. So it’s possible someone filled out their ballot and stopped on the way to the scanner to talk to someone or do something, set the ballot down, and then forgot about it.
Incidentally, this system is why Hawaii, despite having one of the most inept and corrupt state governments in the country, has its election results nearly done by 11 PM on election day, and fully done by the next morning, rather than taking three fucking weeks.
LOL when I saw the headline all I could think of was that the ballot was from the town where Russell Crowe played the New York Rangers
That makes sense. The systems in New Mexico (where I first started voting with scanned ballots) and Ohio (where I now vote with scanned ballots) are both less protective of the ballot’s secrecy. You mark your ballot, walk over to the scanner and put it in. I suppose someone could figure out how I voted, but everyone who knows me already knows how I voted. In the words of Bette Midler, “F*** 'em if they can’t take a joke!”.
Your explanation makes perfect sense. Thanks!
As to my birthplace having, “… one of the most inept and corrupt state governments in the country…”, please allow me to suggest that you visit New Mexico and almost any state in the Deep South. Finally, it took three weeks to count votes in California because California allows mail-in ballots, and they don’t have to be postmarked until election day. When you have close races it’s going to take time to get all the ballots in for counting.
There is an old rule of thumb about design: You can pick two of the following – fast, cheap, correct… In ballot counting, if you pick fast you may eliminate “correct” as an option.