D- The newly computerized vote counting system in Cambridge, Mass. http://www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/~Election/prtabulation.html ----------
[Government statement] COMPUTERIZED PR BALLOT TABULATION The first step On election night at the central tabulation center, the memory card from each precinct's ballot box is entered into a computer. This computer takes the records of each ballot from the memory card and sorts them by precinct into separate files, one each for City Council, School Committee, and ballot question. The complete ballot files for each race or question are then copied onto a computer disk. Each ballot record consists of the candidates selected by the voter and the order in which they were ranked. The second step The computer disk with the ballot files is installed in a second computer. This computer contains the software which counts the ballots. The software has been programmed to follow the "Cambridge Rules," as documented in M.G.L. Chapter 54A and in the Cincinnati Code - Article IX of 1938. By computer, the same process formerly carried out manually by more than a hundred counters over the course of a week is conducted in a matter of seconds by the electronic sorting, counting, and transfer of votes. ELECTION RESULTS An "unofficial first count" of number one (#1) votes for each candidate for City Council and School Committee will be available on election night within minutes of receipt of the memory card from the last reporting precinct. This count is referred to as "unofficial" because it does not contain all ballots. For example, it does not yet include write-ins or ballots marked in a way that could not be read by the scanner at the precinct level. Those votes must be individually added to those already scanned. Only when this last step is completed on the day after the election will all valid ballots have been recorded. The complete ballot records are then copied and read into the tabulation software where they are tallied. The software produces an "official first count" and then proceeds to distribute surplus and eliminate candidates with the least number of votes until all seats have been filled. The Election Commissioners declare the results. ----- D- The Nov. 2001 results are at http://www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/special/Council%20Count14.htm Thus some of the higher tech voting methods can apparently be done using computerized voting. Which shall prevail --- the 10,000 B.C. Taliban type politics or the above 2001 A.D. computerized voting politics ??? Time will tell.
