Volusia County Workers Race the Clock to Hand-Count Votes

By SOMINI SENGUPTA

(N.Y.Times, 11/13/00)

ELAND, Fla., Nov. 12 B A full day behind schedule, after numerous legal wrangles, serious deliberations over what color pens to use and squabbles over such grave matters as the passing of notes, human hands finally got to work today here in Volusia County.

This morning, as a courthouse clock announced the 10-o'clock hour, the sacks of ballots that had been locked in a windowless room, sealed with police tape and guarded overnight by four sheriff's deputies, were hauled onto the first-floor rotunda of the county administration building, as county workers began their tedious, bitterly contested manual recount of each one of the 184,019 ballots cast here on Tuesday.

On each of the 22 tables squeezed into the cramped, hot rotunda of the Thomas C. Kelly building here, two county workers, flanked by a Republican and a Democratic observer, examined each ballot and laid each on one of four piles: one for Vice President Al Gore, one for Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, one for others and a final pile for ballots they could not agree on.

In one corner sat the Canvassing Board, scrutinizing stacks of those disputed ballots, encircled by lawyers representing the Bush and Gore campaigns.

Sometimes, there was swift assent. Sometimes, heads shook and fingers wagged. At times, it got hot, literally and otherwise. By noon, with journalists and party monitors leaning over a velvet rope, straining to hear the deliberations of the three-member body overseeing the vote count, its chairman, County Judge Michael McDermott, looked up, waved an arm and asked that the doors be swung open. "Fresh air," he said.

Marshaling nearly 300 government employees, Volusia County officials had planned to begin the manual count on Saturday morning and conduct it over two seven- hour shifts. But those plans were postponed late Saturday because the board had underestimated how long it would take to inspect 498 write-in ballots. (Its task was to determine each voter's "intent.")

That inspection, which had to be completed before a manual recount could begin, took from 10 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Saturday. It yielded five votes for Mr. Gore and one for Mr. Bush along with valiant scribbles for Mickey Mouse, Ted Nugent and Jesse Ventura.

Today, as officials began the manual recount, they immediately encountered another problem.

They had barely 56 hours to complete the task. And county officials, who had asserted that they would complete this unprecedented manual recount on time, expressed doubts for the first time.

The board instructed the county attorney, Daniel Eckert, to prepare to sue the state to extend the deadline to submit the completed, certified vote tally.

But after 10 hours, county officials said tonight that they had recounted more than half the ballots, raising hopes that they might not have to seek an extension. "I'm not merely pleased," Mr. McDermott said tonight. "I'm thrilled."

Under state law, if Volusia County failed to certify its votes by 5 p.m. Tuesday, the state could invalidate all the ballots.

"If it looks as though we're going to make it with no problem," he said, "obviously the board would say, no need to do it."

Meanwhile, a surprise came late this evening when the Canvassing Board, in reviewing the tallies of Precinct 305 in DeBary, Fla., discovered 320 ballots that had not been reported in the original count.

The 320 ballots were lost when a power outage on Tuesday turned the machine off, causing it to reset.

Judge McDermott last night said he was "shocked" to learn that the machine had stopped itself and missed 320 votes. "I'm going to have to revisit the confidence I previously expressed" about the county's results, he said, adding that the discovery of the ballots "totally vindicates" the decision to order a hand count.

The hand count tonight gave Bush a net gain of 52 votes in that precinct, officials said. Mr. Gore gained 19 in the other precincts counted. At the end of the day, a count of 58 precincts of 172 precincts showed Mr. Bush gaining 33 votes in Volusia County, county officials said.

"And they're real," A Republican observer, Larry Halloran, said. "They're very real."

But Democrats, despite their loss, maintained their defense of the manual recount, saying the increase in Mr. Bush's vote was part of a "fluid process."

"This is a good example of why you ought to have a hand count," Mr. Young said. "This is not a game of up and down at any moment. This is a matter of a very, very important franchise."

The stakes here in Volusia County are enormously high, especially for Mr. Gore, who won the county on Tuesday with 97,063 votes to Mr. Bush's 82,214.

The manual count came at the request of Democrats, who pointed out that complaints of irregularities had emerged in several precincts in this county.

Today's long-awaited theater was prefaced by several days' drama, at times surreal, over the nuts and bolts of the recount. There was bickering over whether party officials could pass notes in and out of the rotunda. "Negative," Judge McDermott said.

There was confusion about what kinds of pencils or pens the observers from the political parties could bring to the table. The Canvassing Board voted to allow observers to bring writing pads and pens that produced a color other than blue or black.

The chief counsel to the Democratic Party, John Hardin Young, then proudly announced that his party had armed its observers with green pens.

The Republicans said they would have to go shopping. But when Judge McDermott reminded them that most shops were closed on Sunday, sheriff's deputies came to the rescue.

They raided a county supply closet and produced three boxes of red pens.

-- eve (eve_rebekah@yahoo.com), November 13, 2000

Answers

Judge McDermott last night said he was "shocked" to learn that the machine had stopped itself and missed 320 votes. "I'm going to have to revisit the confidence I previously expressed" about the county's results, he said, adding that the discovery of the ballots "totally vindicates" the decision to order a hand count.

Oh yes, machines are much more accurate Eve.

-- Quit distorting facts (GOP@mafia.com), November 13, 2000.

Let's take a break and play the word scramble game!

This post is nothing but a shameless...

"PBMU"

-- eve (eve_rebekah@yahoo.com), November 13, 2000.

"The Republicans said they would have to go shopping. But when Judge McDermott reminded them that most shops were closed on Sunday, sheriff's deputies came to the rescue.

They raided a county supply closet and produced three boxes of red pens."

Gasp - next thing you know, TPTB might come looking for OUR red pens!

Note to shopping list:

Ammo

Red Pens...

What else am I forgetting?

-- flora (***@__._), November 13, 2000.

Quit,

Yes, this was an instance where the machine happened to mess up. But I'm trying to put emphasis here on the stress of humans trying to finish up under the gun. It's not so simple.

-- eve (eve_rebekah@yahoo.com), November 13, 2000.

from msnbc: In Broward County, officials agreed to do a hand recount of three precincts Monday afternoon. If significant problems are found, they also will consider a full manual recount of all precincts. Broward officials said 6,686 ballots were not counted because the computer did not recognize any selection in the presidential race.

Yes, machines are infallable!

-- Distorted language from Eve (more@distortions.com), November 13, 2000.

"Hand counts will be more accurate than machines? Read what's happening in Volusia and assert that again, with a straight face"

Why don't YOU read the article again, Eve, and come back to us when you can quit distorting the facts. Your zeal for conservative causes has totally overwhelmed any rational faculty you pretend to possess.

-- Quit distorting the truth! (more@lies.GOP), November 13, 2000.

The Dems will keep demanding recounts until they win.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), November 13, 2000.

But I'm trying to put emphasis here on the stress of humans trying to finish up under the gun. It's not so simple.

So your recommendation is....make them all finish by tomorrow?

-- ? (@ .), November 13, 2000.

So will the repubs.

Note to self "lose the red pens"

-- sumer (shh@aol.co), November 13, 2000.

This whole thing is starting to sound pretty funny -- in a perverted sort of way.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), November 13, 2000.

Hey, y'all...maybe my title was a bit emotional. I'm sorry if I ruffled some feathers with it. My point is, though, that at least in THIS case, the integrity of the hand counting process can in no way necessarily exceed that of machine counting.

You know, people do funny things when put under extreme time pressure with near-impossible deadlines. Think about it.

Finally, I'm not a conservative. I'm a Libertarian. In any case, I think it's very possible Bush would be doing similar things if the situation were reversed.

-- eve (eve_rebekah@yahoo.com), November 13, 2000.

I didn't know The Nuge was in the running.

-- flora (***@__._), November 13, 2000.

For all the talk about the accuracy of counting ballots by hand, expect a big push before the next general election to install paperless voting machines all over the state of Florida. This has been a big black eye, or in some cases two, for the state and they aren't interested in it happening again.

-- Buster Collins (Hiway441@aol.com), November 13, 2000.