The recount identified 9 mis-read ballots from the 9 sample precincts outside the Pacifica School District, and a comparatively surprising zero (0) mis-read ballots from inside the District.

If my grasp of probability is correct, there was only a 1-in-27 chance that all 9 out of 9 mis-read ballots in the sample set would happen to have been cast outside the Pacifica School District.

Although this small random chance *might* account for the lopsided distribution of mis-read ballots, it’s hard to ignore the implied 26-in-27 probability that something else was involved –perhaps a wilful overlooking of marks similar to those found and reported in the other precincts, because identification of even a single mis-read ballot in Pacifica would have required escalation??

I would feel more confident of the accuracy of the canvass if the rest of the Pacifica School District were recounted as well. Even if the manual tally report is 100% accurate, the error rate observed for the county as a whole would imply that 20 ballots were mis-read in the remaining 29 precincts of the District –many times the infinitesimal margin of victory, and therefore justifying an escalation IMO.

[See also http://insideelections.shapethefuture.org/2008/06/20/canvass-completion-nearing/ ]

However, as always, comments and suggestions are welcome. If you have any ideas on how the Elections procedures may be improved, please feel free to comment on this blog or email electwebadmin@smcare.org.

Two elections ago I really liked the way you could get data for all the precincts.

Last election I was disappointed that you could select only one precinct at a time.

This election I’m a bit happier because you can select more than one precinct, but you can only display 4 precincts at a time, and the “next page” button is broken, so you have to manually select the 4 precincts you want rather than using the paging buttons. Pages are inconvenient. I’d like to see data for all the precincts selected displayed on a single web page.

What I’d REALLY like is the ability to download a spreadsheet with segregated data for all the precincts and all the vote types. CSV, tab-delimited, whatever, but HTML tables and PDF’s are the least useful formats for tabular data.

Thanks!

You’ve brought up some great points! I’ve let our technical team know of your concerns to see if we can address them for the November Presidential General Results Portal.

Thanks again,
Kriselle

Previous reports you have put on line also indicated which elections required a 2/3rds or 55 percent vote. That was missing this time and would have been very helpful as well.

It’s great to read about your motivation and interest in getting the voting public educated on the eSlate voting equipment. We do have the machines set up at these various events, and will have them this Sunday at the Burlingame Day on the Green. The eSlates we set up do feature various “candidates” running for positions, like John Adams or Betsy Ross.

If you have any information about events or outreach opportunities, please feel free to let us know. You can send an email to electwebadmin@smcare.org.

Hope to see you this Sunday!