Air America

[A. Joseph Ross]

On 9 Nov 2004 at 1:24, Joseph Pappalardo wrote:

> The accepted practice is to put them in a machine and let the machine
> count them.  That's how we determine the voters intention.
 
No it is not.  The accepted practice is to count the ballots accurately.

For example, in the 1996 Democratic primary in the 10th Congressional District in 
Massachusetts, a number of ballots, mostly in Weymouth, were not counted by the machine 
because of hanging chads.  The result was that Phillip Johnston was declared the winner.  
His opponent, William Delahunt, brought suit, and the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that if 
the machines didn't count those ballots, they were to be counted by hand.  It also ruled that 
a vote should be recorded for a candidate if a discernable stylus impression was made on or 
near the chad for that candidate, even though the chad was not removed.  The Court 
concluded:

"We find unpersuasive Johnston's contention that many voters started to express a 
preference in the congressional contest, made an impression on a punch card, but pulled the 
stylus back because they really did not want to express a choice on that contest. The large 
number of ballots with discernible impressions makes such an inference unwarranted, 
especially in a hotly contested election.  

"It is, of course, true that a voter who failed to push a stylus through the ballot and thereby 
create a hole in it could have done a better job of expressing his or her intent. Such a voter 
should not automatically be disqualified, however, like a litigant or one seeking favors from 
the government, because he or she failed to comply strictly with announced procedures. The 
voters are the owners of the government, and our rule that we seek to discern the voter's 
intention and to give it effect reflects the proper relation between government and those to 
whom it is responsible."  

-- 
A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                           617.367.0468
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@attorneyross.com
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         http://www.attorneyross.com