Compaq Message Board - Msg: 14783552

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To: PCSS who wrote (86656)	11/11/2000 1:36:03 AM
From: Richard Habib	Read Replies (4) of 97611

Michael, as I noted earlier and as now seems to be getting more press attention, the number of voided ballots may be reduced significantly in a manual count because it becomes obvious in cases of one dented and one fully punched choice that the fully punched choice represents the intent of the voter. A scanner can often not tell the difference. Both teams have advisors conversant with the technical issues of punch voting machines & so realize what is at stake. Surely as tech investors we can get a handle on what is fundamentally a technical issue. The scanners have a difficult time distinguishing one dented, one fully punched choice from two fully punched choices. We have 19K+ voided ballots. We have multiple sources indicating that a significant proportion of those are double punched (Perhaps somewhat less than 4.5% of the total vote in PB). Sample manual counts will be run this weekend. If they indicate a problem a full manual count will conceivably alter the vote tally substantially. We've been making fun of older folks who say they double punched the ballot without realizing an obvious nuance, that it's much more likely that the voters started to punch one choice, realized their mistake and punched the right choice. The machine has difficulty distinguishing this but humans will not provided one choice isn't fully punched. There is nothing sacred in law about a re-count having to be by machine vs humans. The Republicans threaten to recount other states - they should if they feel an issue exists. This was the closest election in history. As I noted earlier today, the 300+ vote difference between them in FL would require an accuracy in count of about 99.994% or so. That's a tough nut to crack for any voting machine. That represents a required resolution of 6000 votes in 100 million. As tech investors we daily see how bad the media is when trying to report technical issues. Right now a lot of smoke is being raised regarding other peripheral issues. When they finally get it right I think it will be seen as a purely technical issue brought to the forefront because of an unfortunate coincident of a ballot resulting in a high percentage of voids in the one county that made the difference in the election. Rich

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