P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985

April 14, 2006

Recount Update, Arlene is the winner!

After a somewhat rocky start and the circus-like atmosphere of volunteers and workers trying to understand the process and their roles, the recount for the Madison school board Seat 1 race offers good reason to have confidence in the voting machines and the voting process.

Every ballot was reviewed with very few questioned, much less challenged, and darn near all of them proved to have been read and read correctly by the machines. Equally important, in those very few instances where the ballot was misread or not read by the machine, the careful attention and notes offered by the poll workers on election day allowed the canvassers to identify the exact ballot that was not correctly read, understand why and correct the results.

In the end, maybe two dozen votes out of nearly 37,000 were not correctly counted originally, and the margin never changed by more than six votes. The final tally was just four votes different from election night.

Voters in Madison can rest easy that their votes are being counted and counted correctly. And in the rare instance where they are not, they can take complete comfort in knowing there is a good process with dedicated public servants available to confirm final results.

Thanks to all who gave up time at work or in the beautiful weather to instill some confidence in the electorate.

Now Arlene can be seated to help fulfill MMSD's mission.

Posted by prodane at April 14, 2006 03:34 AM