Nov 08 Excerpt: Audit vs. Scanner Counts

A. Ballot Count Discrepancies

As mentioned earlier in this report, several audit reports are incomplete.  We have no way of analyzing the data that was not provided; therefore we have no basis to conclude that the machines counted ballots accurately, which is the basic purpose of the audit. For the purposes of this section we have disregarded incomplete reports.

Among our greatest concerns are the discrepancies in data where no thorough or reasonable explanation is provided by election officials. Some of the most outstanding examples are presented in Table 1 below. This table shows, in ten voting districts, the discrepancies between the numbers of ballots counted by hand and the numbers of ballots processed by the tabulators on Election Day, as recorded on optical scanners’ tabulator tapes.  In nine of these districts, the tabulator processed more ballots than were counted by hand, ranging from 9 to 24 ballots.  In the tenth district, the hand-count included 7 more ballots than were processed by the tabulator.

Hand Counted Ballots	Tabulator Counted Ballots	Difference	%
2929	2953	24	0.8%
1140	1155	15	1.3%
2234	2248	14	0.6%
2228	2242	14	0.6%
4718	4731	13	0.3%
1216	1228	12	1.0%
1155	1167	12	1.0%
2435	2444	9	0.4%
1497	1506	9	0.6%
1080	1073	7	0.7%

Table 1: Discrepancies in Numbers of Ballots Counted by Hand vs. Counted by Tabulator in Ten Districts, November 2008 Audits

Statements on the official audit reports:

[Differences] can be attributed to disputed ballots not being processed by the optical scanner OR human error in the manual counting of the ballots.

We were off by a small marginal number, we recounted those offices twice.

For those races that are over with the hand count number, either human error is a factor or the tabulator did not count all the disputed ballots.

“In my opinion the Accu-Vote machines are in-accurate”…Registrar

“I am in agreement with [The Registrar]” -Registrar Elect

Possible machine error.

At the end of the audit we found discrepancies of up to 4 votes in 3 individual races.  We are at a loss to explain this.  We very carefully had 2 counters count 50 ballots and then 2 more counters count the same 50 ballots.  When there was a discrepancy between the results of the two counts, the registrars counted the ballots a 3^rd time to determine the result…We have all of the ballots in their original batches of 50 along with two sets of tally sheets and an accompanying audit sheet and they are available for examination at any time.

Based on observer reports, we do not believe that all of the hand counts are accurate because of the questionable counting methods observed.  On the other hand, because of these discrepancies, we have no basis to conclude that the scanners all counted ballots accurately either.

B. “Questionable” Votes and “Undisputed” Ballots

Observations and comments from election officials indicate confusion about classifying “undisputed ballots” and about counting “questionable votes”. An undisputed ballot is a ballot with no apparent problem or questionable votes on it. A questionable vote is a mark on a ballot that may not have been read properly by the optical scanner.  Audits exhibited a variety of interpretations of what constitutes “undisputed” and “ballots with questionable votes”.  Audit statistics confirm these observations.

• Sixteen (16) districts were reported as having zero (0) ballots with questionable votes.
• On average, audits reported 1% questionable votes.

C. Vote Count Accuracy

Even considering confusion over ballots with questionable votes, an analysis of the district reports submitted to the Secretary of the State indicates that vote count discrepancies remain.

For example, Table 2 presents, by number and percentage, some of the larger vote differences between handcounted votes and machine counted votes  in  ten races, even when  all ballots with questionable votes are included. The discrepancies listed range from 11 votes to 351 votes.

Col C Machine Totals (Tape)	Col F Hand Count Totals	Difference	%
222	118	104	46.8%
119	65	54	45.4%
813	462	351	43.2%
815	467	348	42.7%
217	162	55	25.3%
280	224	56	20.0%
278	226	52	18.7%
105	94	11	10.5%
1080	1001	79	7.3%
1558	1451	107	6.9%

Table 2: Selected races where hand-counted Votes (Including ballots with questionable votes) and Machine-Counted Votes Show Discrepancies.

Table 3 presents some of the larger differences, by count and percentage, where the machine counted votes did not equal the handcounted votes in ten non-cross-endorsed races. This table excludes all questionable votes. Discrepancies listed range from  29 votes to 366 votes.

Col C Machine Totals (Tape)	Col D (Undisputed Ballot Totals)	Difference	%
1723	2089	366	17.52%
827	940	113	12.02%
1289	1457	168	11.53%
1239	1370	131	9.56%
1194	1316	122	9.27%
1368	1465	97	6.62%
759	809	50	6.18%
1168	1224	56	4.58%
758	787	29	3.68%
1376	1421	45	0.80%

Table 3: Selected Races Where Hand-Counted Votes (Undisputed Ballots) and Machine Counted Votes Show Discrepancies.