I believe in my earlier post that I may have given the impression that the
19,000 ballots that were supposedly thrown out, were double punched in error
and placed in the ballot boxes that way.  I stated that if people made a
mistake in their ballot and submitted it that way, too bad, so sad.  That would
appear to be an incorrect statement.

It would seem the 19,000 ballots which are in question, were actually ones that
were turned in to election officials, AT THE TIME OF THE VOTE, and EXCHANGED
for new ones, which were then submitted.  These 19,000 ballots would therefore
be duplicates and should never be counted under ANY circumstances, in the vote.

Why did they not just throw those ballots away you may ask?  Very simple.  I
believe you cannot do that.  Let me explain.  The person in charge of the
ballot box is issued a specific number of ballots and a list of registered
voters.  That person probably has to sign for the ballots.  That person is then
ultimately responsible for all the ballots, used, unused, spoiled and
discarded.  Therefore you cannot destroy a ballot until everything has been
reconciled.

I can only offer my own experience from Canada.  In the 1970's, I acted as a
DRO (Deputy Returning Officer) in several elections.  I was sworn in and issued
a ballot box, a list of registered voters, a specific number of ballots and
lengthy instructions.  I had to account for every single ballot at the end of
the day.  I can't help but think this would be very similar in the US.  I have
been a US citizen for several years, but shamefully, I have not taken the time
to study the exact procedures the election officials must follow.

Interestingly enough, as a DRO in Canada, I was omnipotent and above any law
during election day.  I could get the police to arrest anyone I wanted.  I
could shoot somebody in front of witnesses and could not be arrested.  Until
midnight of that day.  :)

Kind regards,

Denys. . .

Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP
(800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com


-----Original Message-----
From:   Stan Sieler [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Friday, November 10, 2000 1:19 PM
To:     Denys Beauchemin; [log in to unmask]
Cc:     wirt Atmar
Subject:        Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Anatomy of a screw-up

Denys writes:

...
> Also, it seems there are
> 15,000 registered Reform party members in Palm Beach county, very different
> from neighboring Broward county.
>  http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2000/11/8/161334.shtml

I've seen the following only once on CNN, and not at all elsewhere,
and the exact numbers may not match my memory, but...
a spokesman for someone (probably Bush) was pointing out that
Palm Beach County had something like a 140% increase in registrations
for the Reform party in the past year...*way* more than the increases in
other Florida counties.  They claimed that someone who registered
for a party "recently" is highly likely to vote in this election.
Additionally, of the 66 (?) counties in Florida,
Palm Beach contributors provided about 5% of the Reform party funds raised
in Florida...again, *way* more than the other counties.

The point is obvious: you can't rely on one data point.  Doing so is
like saying "the reports of earthquake activity by state spike in
California...must be incorrect data".  Instead, you look for other
kinds of data to help ascertain the meaning and/or correctness of your
first data point.  We now seem to know of three different sets of data
(votes for Buchanan, new registrations for Reform party, and contributions
for Reform party) that *all* spike in Palm Beach.  At this point, with
this information, Occam's Razor says it's more likely that there are
a lot of Reform party supporters there than a lot of voter error.

Don't forget, maybe a newly registered (enthusiastic) Reform Party member is
like Typhoid Mary: he/she contaminates a lot of people around them!
I.e., they convinced non-members to vote Buchanan.)  Just a possibility,
mind you.

My view: 1/2 of the nations voters won't be happy either way.  I like
David Letterman's comment:  Gore isn't president, Bush isn't president...
let's leave it that way!  :)



Stan Sieler                                           [log in to unmask]
www.allegro.com/sieler/wanted/index.html          www.allegro.com/sieler