Machine vs. hand counting

[Paul Finkelman]

But in Florida not ever county has punch card voting, which undercounts
far more than optical scanning or voting machines, so in fact the
undercounting is not uniform in Florida.  A hand count where there are
optical scanners would not change the result as much; my proposal to
count all ballots has been available; but Bush opposed doing so; I would
still argue that the time for asking for the hand count ought to be
waived; I hope the Gore people would even endorse that, and have full
count of all votes; then we would have a winner.

"John C. Eastman" wrote:

> Paul Finkelman wrote:
>
>> Is there anyone on the list who can make an argument against a hand
>> count where
>> the machines failed to count votes?
>
> Paul,
> The problem is that machines tend to undercount ballots, but we live
> with it because they do so uniformly.  The Gore request to have a hand
> count only in 4 heavily Democrat counties, without conducting a
> similar hand count in the rest of the state, would disproportionately
> eliminate the undercount for Gore voters.  That is where the cynicism
> lies, and potential equal protection violations, too.  Your proposal
> to count all is apparently not one of the options.  So as between hand
> count 4 heavily Democrat counties only or hand count none, the only
> course likely to give us an accurate reflection of the statewide
> winner is not to conduct the hand count.
> John Eastman
> Chapman University School of Law

--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East Fourth Place
Tulsa, OK  74104

918-631-3706
Fax 918-631-2194

E-mail:  paul-finkelman at utulsa.edu

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