Now, I'm not advocating a hand count but I found this shocking news on www.cnn.com . [[When the call came from Tallahassee for every county in Florida to recount presidential ballots the day after last week's historic vote, Baker County elections supervisor John Barton and his local canvassing board took the easy way out. They simply checked the electronic memory of their computers, running the numbers again to see if they matched the results from the day before. Not a single ballot was re-scanned or inspected. Nor did it have to be. In Florida, it turns out, a recount doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. ]] http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/15/latimes.recount/index.html They went on to say that lots of counties interpreted the Tallahassee order to mean that they were to run the ballots throught the counters again. <DUH!!> Teacher: So what have we learned today children? <hands go up> Yes, Mary. Mary: That Florida doesn't have enough laws to instruct officials to perform a machine recount with consistency. Teacher: Yes, that's right. Now, let's turn to Math. Mary: And that, when building a ballot, they need to put the candidates in the order prescribed by Flordia law instead of making up their own order. Teacher: Fine Mary. Now turning to Math. Open to page.... Mary: And that despite explicit instructions about punching cleanly, some voters are unable to make their vote count. Teacher: Now Mary, Civics is over. Mary: And that with our aging population, perhaps some additional reform or education is needed. Teacher: Mary, you'll have to go to the Principal's office! Now! Mary: And that, amazingly, a polititian in Florida can possess an actual voting machine without getting in trouble, or even being investigated. And that in spite of jarring (even alarming) inconsistencies, the system works. And that....... Lama npimh: That video from Aimee Mann where she's standing up in the audience of an opera house. She's been asked to sit down and shut up but instead, she's defiantly singing "Voices Carry".
