Yellowstone (MT) Recount Alleged as Poll Worker Error

[ShotInTheDark]

Software flub leads to county recount
Problems delay results elsewhere in the state

By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff

......

County Election Administrator Duane Winslow said the fault was his. The county was using a new software program for its three electronic vote-counting machines this year, he said, and he neglected an important function in tabulating the absentee ballots.

Absentee ballots - and there were nearly 20,000 in Yellowstone County this year - are normally counted first, after which the regular ballots from the precincts are counted.

After the absentee ballots were counted, Winslow said, he was supposed to hit a "zero out" button on the voting machines, which basically cleans the slate before the regular ballots are counted. That was the step Winslow neglected to take on two of the machines. He said he thinks he hit the button on one of the machines.

"It's unfamiliar," he said. "It's just a mistake I made."

As a result, he said, some of the absentee ballots, perhaps as many as 3,000, may have been counted again when the regular ballots were being run through the machines. He decided about 12:40 a.m. to undertake a complete recount.

"I'd just rather make absolutely sure, especially with races this close," he said.

Winslow assembled what staff was left in the courthouse just before 1 a.m. and told them about his decision to conduct a recount. He said they would probably be there until 5 or 6 this morning. He also said that while the reason for this recount is new, the delayed count is not unprecedented. He remembered at least two previous occasions when votes were still being counted at dawn.



http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/11/08/news/local/22-flub.txt

Something fishy is going on.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. MT not MN. nt.

[ShotInTheDark]

2. Definitely MT. Thanks.

:hi:

[bluedeminredstate]

3. Does this sound legit?

And is this Burns country? Anyone?

[enki23]

4. yes, that's burns country

[MGD]

5. Looks like we have taken Montana finally--and Virgina--and the Senate--and the House--

and a majority of governorships--and a majority of state legislatures--and we have the first female speaker of the house, the second African American Governor...etc, etc, etc. I think this revolution is roughly equivalent to the Jefferson revolution of 1800. I don't think there is another election in our history that comes close to this level of victory. This wasn't an election, this was a revolution folks.

[ShotInTheDark]

6. MGD, this a special moment for our nation.

All precincts reporting expect for Meagher, only one thing left to say now:

God bless Americans.

[crim son]

7. I'm going to say

Welcome to DU! Be disgruntled no more :)

[Mike Daniels]

8. Except that it was independent/moderate voters that made the difference

and the majority of voters said this was a referendum against Bush.

Make no mistake, the majority of the country is still center to center right and if the Dems read this as some sort of liberal mandate they will be out come 2008.

[ShotInTheDark]

10. "the majority of the country is still center to center right"

In my humble opinion the majority of Americans are knuckleballs. Nonetheless, each ball is still made at the same factory, and is required to travel from point A to B. Therefore, what dems really need to do is keep their eye on the ball, and swing away!

Luckily, the Pitcher in Chief is a knucklehead, therefore it will be possible to score a few runs when it comes to issues your Americans are fed up with.

What the election of 2006 has proved is that the time for childish games is over.

The "fans" have spoken.

It is our stadium now.

So...

You shall play by our rules, and in the process we might just be able to save America together.

But if acting like responsible civil servants is not acceptable to the GOP, then it is a small segment of Republicans themselves who will look like fools, peddling twelve dollar sodas, defecating in the dugout, and throwing bats into the crowd.

While the people of this great nation may possess subtle differences in their political leanings, there do exist, issues which can bind individuals together as a team, as oppossed to the ragtag gang of ne'er-do-wells that has become all too familiar in recent years.

Impossible you say?

One such topic has already been mentioned by pundits red and blue: The referendum against Bush's maltreatment toward the American system of governance.

And though I do not give any specific justification for why discontent has wrought a resounding unity, the American people, by electing for change, have provided reason enough to carry out their wishes.

[LiberalFighter]

11. Not necessarily majority of Americans but majority of voters

[ShotInTheDark]

12. Good point, and it illustrates

the contrast between a politician aiming for the hearts and minds of most Americans, and one who caters to the specific needs of his/her voting base. It's unfortunate that there aren't many of the former, and I don't begrudge either one of us for relying on the latter.

Ya ken the differs? :evilgrin:

[w4rma]

13. On most issues, however, the majority is center/center-left.

There are many issues that you are probably considering to be right-wing that I don't consider to be right-wing, such as lowering illegal immigration and gun rights. On these issues most Americans are "center/center-right" (according to common usage).

[Phredicles]

14. A step up from Extreme Right, which is where we were.

[Oak2004]

15. That's just not true

Polls consistently show that Americans favor liberal policies.

Americans however believe liberalism to be something other than what it is, as a result of a very effective propaganda machine.

Democrats who think that by moving farther and farther right, and by conceding point after point, battle after battle to the right (that includes the "pro-business" free trade and unfree bankruptcy right) they become more "mainstream" simply do not understand where the problems lie.

[pnwmom]

9. Welcome to DU, ShotInTheDark!