[EL] Allen West recount

[Paul Lehto]

On Sun, Nov 18, 2012 at 1:27 PM, Larry Levine <larrylevine at earthlink.net>wrote:

> [...] In California that means more than 3 million late absentees and
> provisional after the election. I imagine other states had large numbers of
> similar ballots to be counted. If the election is certified 30 days after
> Election Day, that makes it the first week in December before a recount can
> be requested. Imagine an election in which the final verdict depended on a
> large state with a large number of  ballots to be processed and counted
> after Election Day. Oops. That already happened.  Seriously, as the number
> of late absentee ballots and provisional ballots continues to climb this
> becomes a greater potential for disaster mounts.
>
> Larry
>

Well California is now down from 3.349 million ballots just a few days ago
to around 1.7 million ballots left to be counted as of November 16, 2012.
However, the pace of vote counting has slowed down as the days go by, and
some counties will use essentially all of the 31 days provide before
certifying huge chunks of the California vote.

We are looking at a smaller form of actual, current disaster in that the
meaning of these elections are already quite well settled in the public and
pundit-minds, despite many millions of uncounted votes, and further despite
the fact that those uncounted votes are typically not representative of
those ballots actually processed and reported on election night.  Numbers
do shift in California and elsewhere, but the margin of victory and the
competitiveness of candidates and the like are already well settled in the
public mind.

This is a form of partial disfranchisement in practical terms because
millions of ballots are no part of the headlines or discussion in the days
or weeks after the election.  Unless we posit that ballots that "don't
change the overall result" don't matter, then to discuss election results
in anything but clear and express "provisional" (no pun intended) terms is
to effectively ignore the ballots of many millions nationwide.

Paul Lehto, J.D.

> ****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Rick Hasen
> *Sent:* Sunday, November 18, 2012 10:04 AM
> *To:* law-election at UCI.edu
> *Subject:* [EL] Allen West recount****
>
> ** **
> “West seeks hearing after Murphy camp declares victory when St. Lucie
> board misses noon deadline” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44482> ****
>
> Posted on November 18, 2012 10:02 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44482>
> by Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3> ****
>
> *Palm Beach Post*<http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/recount-resumes-as-noon-deadline-looms/nS9Dh/>:
> “The St. Lucie County canvassing board has missed a noon deadline to file
> election results to the Division of Elections, prompting campaign officials
> for Patrick Murphy to declare the political newcomer the winner in the race
> for congressional District 18 race.”****
>
> This will be one of those instances in which Republicans call for counting
> every vote and Democrats call for sticking to the rules as written.****
>
> See also St. Lucie Voting System Noted for Errors<http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/st-lucie-voting-system-noted-for-errors/nS9CQ/>
> .****
>
> [image: Share]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D44482&title=%E2%80%9CWest%20seeks%20hearing%20after%20Murphy%20camp%20declares%20victory%20when%20St.%20Lucie%20board%20misses%20noon%20deadline%E2%80%9D&description=>
> ****
>
> Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
> recounts <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=50>, The Voting Wars<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
> | Comments Off |****
>
> -- ****
>
> Rick Hasen****
>
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-- 
Paul R Lehto, J.D.
P.O. Box 1
Ishpeming, MI  49849
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