>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/16/00 11:51AM >>>
Bill,
I thought the recount that had been done so far was a machine
recount in all of the counties - thus only yesterday was the last of the
67 counties reported. My understanding is that the hand recount in the
four counties you mention has yet to be done and may not ever be done if
Harris has her way.
>>>
Hi Alex,
This is my understanding as well. I just went back and read my note and realized
that I had left a couple of my thoughts incomplete. It is my understanding that the
counties in which Gore made big pick-ups of votes were strongly democratic counties
where the punch card machines were used. I'm sorry if I gave the impression that these
were the only counties that were counted. Also when I was referring to a full count of
the entire state I meant a full hand count of the entire state as has been proposed
now by Gore. That is what is now at issue and what is likely to produce a significant
increase in the Gore count for the reason I described.
Since I wrote my post early this morning I've talked with someone at Brookings
who is doing his own analysis of the Florida vote. He tells me that _within_ counties
there was a tendency for unpunched Presidential ballots to be more frequent when Gore
had a larger share of the vote. He was using this to argue that it wasn't just the
type of machinery in use that was responsible for the Gore bias in the recount, but
that Gore voters were more likely to have trouble punching the ballot. I'm not sure I
buy this since unpunched ballots are not mostly errors. Most people who don't punch a
candidate did not intend to vote. So it could be that in counties where there are more
Gore voters there are also more people who were dissatisfied with the choices they had
for President and didn't vote.
William T. Dickens
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 797-6113
FAX: (202) 797-6181
E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
AOL IM: wtdickens
