At 08:07 PM 11/17/00 -0500, Doug wrote:
>
>JDG wrote:
>
><<What most surprises me though, is why this skepticism and fear of
machines? Why this inherent assumption that only *humans* can accurately
count a ballot? I actually happen to like machine counts because they are
fast, efficient, and completely unbiased. A uniform standard is applied to
every single ballot, *without* question. >>
>
>But your last statement is patently false. The famous chads can act like
trap doors if they have been punched through but are still hanging on by a
corner or two. When the ballots are stacked together the "trap door"
closes and the vote isn't counted. This accounts for the difference from
one count to the next as the "hanging chad" has a tendency to losen and
fall out. So a uniform standard is applied to only those ballots that
don't have "hanging chad".
>>>>>>>
I think that "patently false" is awfully harsh here, Doug.
My argument is that votes for Bush and Gore are equally likely to be
obscured by hanging chad. At any rate, the voter instructions clearly
indicate that the voter is to ensure that the chad has been fully removed.
Thus, a uniform standard is applied that only ballots with the chad fully
punched are counted, without room for selective interpretation.
JDG
_______________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Now is not the Time for Third Chances,
It is a Time for New Beginnings."
- George W. Bush 8/3/00
******************VOTE BUSH / CHENEY 2000 *******************
