Counting Votes
How do votes get counted after an election?
Big countings, of course, use big computers. I don't know of any areas that still do hand counting of all the ballots. There could be. There could be some areas, I know some cities maybe small enough but not for state white elections. We use computers to count ballots.
Are the counts accurate?
I think the counts accurate. If they're close, and the candidate thinks they're not accurate, any candidate can also ask for a recount. And the way it works, at least in California here, if a candidate asks for a recount the registrar of voters is required to do it. And, if the recounts causes a change in the election, the candidate doesn't have to pay a penny. But if the election was accurate he has to pay for the recount.
What are 'overvotes' and 'undervotes'?
Over Votes are very common, it will say on the ballets ‘Vote for one of the following', and you're voting for one. Some people will vote for two, that's an Over Vote. Sometimes it will say ‘Vote for three' and they'll vote for four. So in lots of local elections there will be the top three candidates will win out of twelve, and you have to vote for those three candidate, but people get confused and they'll vote for more than three, and that's an Over Vote. Under Vote is when you miss an election and you really wanted to vote but somehow you bypass it say and you didn't see it. Lots of Under Votes are purposeful, I Under Vote; if I don't want to vote for something I just leave it blank, and that's an Under Vote. So their not necessary wrong, but it's an Under Vote because you missed something can you should have a chance to go back and change that.
What can get a ballot thrown out?
A Ballot can get thrown out if it is not readable in any way. And that can be caused by folding, spills, marking with the wrong, not a pen and using a crayon,a pencil when a pen was required or something. So sometimes they are forced in the machine wrong.
What if the vote counters are partisan?
The vote counter is a machine. It's a computer in most cases so it's not partisan. Are your elected officials people that are running the election partisan? Everyone is partisan. But they're pledged to run a fair and save election.
What if there is a voting equipment failure?
That happens quite frequently. There's usually backup equipment available at every polling place, or a number to call for a technician to come out immediately. It will shut down voting for a while but you're never supposed to shut down voting, you're supposed to keep voting on whatever equipment you have working there. Even if it means not using any machines, just marking a ballot against your ballot book. If you look at your ballot and it's blank, or it didn't accord to your satisfaction, ask for another ballot, you have a chance to do it again.
If every ballot is counted, how are election results announced before everyone votes?
There's something that goes on in a lot of communities called snap tallies. The newspaper or TV station will ask the election official if they could collect the results at a couple precincts as examples of what's happening in the community and then report that as trends. That's called snap tallies. That happens a lot in major elections but that's not counting the real vote. You have to know that that's not whether that vote is counted. So we do have snap tallies in a lot of places, so they get trends. Now of course with the presidential election, they try to get the TV station not to announce the winner before the polls close because that will discourage people from coming out to vote. When you first turn on your television after the polls close, what you normally are seeing when they say “zero precincts reporting” but there's a number up there. That's your count of the absentee ballots that came in before Election Day. The actually count, they have the ballots ready to go, then they just feed them in the machine real fast. So the fist numbers you usually get are absentee ballots.
