You don't have to recount "by hand". You start with auditing by hand - looking at a sample and seeing if it's accurate. Then you run the original paper ballots through another scanner.
Ugh. Just use paper for voting. If the 2000 recount taught us anything, it’s the importance of a paper trail. Just take the time to count the ballots by hand.
An alternative: Mark ballot, feed to scanner, which either
successfully scans a ballot, or returns it to the voter
to be re-marked (modulo write-in votes, see link). The scan
is the fast & easy result, and the paper ballot can be the
separate source of a reproducible result.
Also a note for international HN readers - elections
in the USA often have 20+ races on the same ballot -
we really like elective offices - and that makes
hand counting more difficult.
By looking at the receipts printed by the ballot machines.
Ballot machines print either a final tally at the end of the day, or print every single vote and automatically drop it into a physical ballot, depending on the threat model of the country in question. Either way the you have partial or total recount.
Dominion machines print a ballot, which the voter takes — and as such, can see the vote — and deposits for counting separately. The final vote tally can be from the machines, but there’s always the paper ballots available to count — which is what a recount is: a manual count of the ballots. The machines simplify the process but they don’t change it.
In my piece of Floriduh a non-expert franks the signature on the envelope. It's still more secure than voting in person as state law prohibits inspection of paper ballots in a recount; The only regular ballots recounted are the machine-generated totals.
Voting by hand takes days, which is why it is only done automatically for close elections.
However, a losing candidate may request a recount after the election. In most states, if the margin is outside of a stated threshold, that candidate must pay for the recount. If there is a discrepancy between the two counts, then a hand recount is performed.
If an election isn't close, then the respective Secretary of State will audit (by hand) a random selection of precincts to verify vote totals match, but this is a security check and generally takes place weeks after the election.
It's not easy, candidates have the right to appoint agents to verify the voting process, the ballot counts, the correctness of the markings and to certify the count and confirm the ballots are properly sealed in case of a judicial recount.
Where I live we use paper ballots that are both scanned and tallied on sight by a machine when submitted, then hand counted by volunteers at a central location that anyone can observe.
First, most US paper ballots are fill-in-the-bubble, with pen, and any sufficient mark counts. This is so the large number of ballots can be counted quickly. Multiple marks for the same race is immediately rejected and you have the opportunity to correct the ballot. Ability to follow basic directions is the responsibility of the voter. Or, the voter can ask for assistance.
Hand marked paper ballots allow for an audit trail. Paper allows the voter to check before submitting the ballot. Paper allows easy correction by trading for a replacement. Paper works well. As is confirmed in audit after audit after audit.
That's why you have paper ballots with dumb electronic counters, as Ontario (Canada) did in its last provincial election. The ballot is a full letter size piece of paper that is fed through the counting machine while the voter watches, into a standard ballot box that can easily be recounted.
There are practical limitations that prevent us from doing that in the US. Specifically, our ballots tend to be long and complicated. A California ballot on a presidential year can have dozens of contests, from president to dog catcher to referenda. Reading out all ballots would be very time-consuming and likely very error-prone as poll workers are pretty tired by the end of the night.
This is why we have scanners to speed up counting paper ballots. And paper ballots are retained for targeted manual counts if there's a need for auditing or recounts.
Ballot boxes that scan ballots are auditable because they keep the paper ballots.
In my state, election workers have to ensure that the number of ballots is the same as the number recorded by the ballot box on election night - although we don’t recount who voted for who. The ballots are preserved.
Sweden here, all manual on paper. A first count in 2-3 hours the night of the election, then a complete recount the following weeks in all districts, no triggers or conditions to keep it simple and use the same process for any result.
You can observe the vote happening, count on election night or recount as long as you follow the instructions and don't interfere with it in any way, this includes adjacent rooms.
This is absolute hogwash, there are other methods than a full hand recount if you have a paper trail, some of which only require counting a small number of the ballots by hand.
The best example of this is a Risk Limiting Audit (RLA). You only have to re-count a smaller number of ballots until the overwhelming probability is that the vote is confirmed, or that the vote is rejected. Depending on the disparity between the ballot options, this count can actually be very small.
The way it's done here in France is it's just random voters who offer to do the recount (usually after being asked because it's pretty boring haha).
And you don't count alone, there are people with you who count with you and who double check what you do.
It works the following way. You legally must have:
- one person who opens the envelope containing the ballot and unfolds it
- one who reads out loud the ballot
- at least two who write down what the person above said
And all that is supervised by the same people who were manning the polling station (at least 4 them).
So it becomes a lot harder not to trust humans when you have at least 4 persons who saw the ballot and a couple others observing if everything is being done as expected.
You can have machines that receive and scan the ballot (instead of a simple box), without losing the paper trail, and keeping a count of the number of submitted ballots (the number of used ballots is also controlled and counted).
As long as they aren't stuffing more ballots or modifying existing ones it should be easy to do a recount at any time.
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