hand counting

Dear Friends,

I blind copied our Governor, AG, SoS, Legislature and County Election Officials on the following letter to my fictitious friend Mr. John Adams yesterday:

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To: john.adams@nebraska.gov
Subject: Hand counting is the gold standard

Dear Mr. Adams,

You asked about the error rate in hand counting. Let me work off this Hand Counting section from pg 60 of this report found on our SoS’s website:

1. Hand Counting

Tabulating paper ballots by hand for each candidate and issue is the oldest tabulation method since the switch to the secret ballot in the late 1800s. Although this method is archaic, it has continued to be used through modern times. Notably, the Dutch government will be counting all their ballots for the 2017 election by hand amidst fears of election hacking. Australia, the creator of the secret ballot, still hand counts all of its ballots for some elections, as does Canada. Even in America there are some rural jurisdictions that continue to hand count ballots for general elections.

Hand counting paper ballots takes a significantly longer period of time than employing optical scanners. In addition, hand counting results in higher error rates than using optical scanners. However, the major advantage of hand counting is that it is not prone to computer hacking concerns associated with electronic machines that transmit data via wireless or internet connection.

Hand counting is comparatively cheaper than all of the costs associated with utilizing electronic machines, despite the increased labor needs. HAVA provided funding to states to update and replace older methods of tabulation, including hand counting. Because federal funding has dried up, unless the state provides funding for new election equipment to all counties in Nebraska, many smaller counties may find themselves reverting back to hand counting simply because they will not be able to foot the entire bill to replace outdated or defunct machinery.

I highlighted a couple sentences with bold face, but the particular sentence I want to address is this one:

“In addition, hand counting results in higher error rates than using optical scanners.”

Higher error rates?

Is that so?

Then why is hand counting the gold standard when it comes to audits??

I mean, which comes first, the machine count or the hand count?

Does Evnen (the NE "SoS") use hand counts to confirm (audit) machine counts, or machine counts to confirm hand counts?

The machine counts come first, obviously. That means the hand counts are the audit feature of our so-called election process.

But let’s face it. Evnen’s highly-guarded, so-called “random,” partial-race precinct self-audits aren’t audits at all. He’s just putting on a show…a charade…and it's one that’s meant to deceive us in the very important matters of self-government and national security. There is no beginning-to-end transparency in his so-called “audits.” They prove nothing.

If someone is using the machines to cheat (which they are—every machine has a backdoor) it’s very easy to leave “random” pockets (precincts) untouched by manipulation. Likewise with the “logic and accuracy testing” (pre-election test counts). It’s very easy to program the machines to count the first 100 ballots (or whatever the test batch number is) accurately and then start manipulating the count after that.

Back to the sentence: ”…hand counting results in higher error rates than using optical scanners.”

That’s only true if proper checks and balances aren’t built into the process. All hand counting isn't created equal. If we want it done right, we must build checks and balances into the process, just like we do with anything else we want done right.

What are proper checks and balances?

Well, off the top of my head, how about dual counting teams, from opposing parties, where the results must match exactly? How about counting watchers from opposing parties? How about cameras that record the whole thing? 

The hand counting would largely be precinct-based, for solid chain-of-custody. Results would be reported from the precinct before ballots are transferred to the county office. (Of course we’re assuming all ballots are legit. That’s another problem for another day.)

This isn’t 400 level philosophy stuff. This is simple grade-school addition. For which it is very easy to build checks and balances. (Five yr olds could figure this out.)

Checks and balances are a must. Computerized elections are centralized elections and centralized elections concentrate too much power that is easily abused. It’s too easy to cheat with secret software. One person can now do the same amount of cheating, and more, that would have required hundreds/thousands of people to accomplish in the past. Trillions of dollars ride on elections. So do our liberties. These are high-stakes elections.

There are NO checks and balances in machine counting. None that Evnen or Bena are allowing, anyway.

Evnen and Bena refuse to decentralize our elections. They refuse to allow counties to exercise autonomy (the right to self-government) in their elections. They refuse to be transparent. They refuse to provide us with checks and balances. They refuse to provide We the People with any real audit capacity.

Evnen and Bena aren’t cyber security experts. They aren’t software experts. They aren’t voting machine experts. They are salesmen for ES&S, and the taxpayers of Nebraska are getting ripped off.

Computerized vote tabulators would never have gotten off the ground on their own. They’re too expensive (not to mention non-transparent). Has anyone seen the national debt? They required HUGE subsidies (i.e., huge amounts of taxpayer money) to get traction in the "marketplace." Those subsidies were paid for with our then-present AND future tax dollars. It was nothing less than theft. HAVA money didn't grow on trees.

It also took HUGE lobbying by the voting machine companies. "Lobbying" is a euphemistic term for bribing. Lots of politicians have "For Sale" signs on their backs.

Evnen and Bena are lazy. Scratch that. They are worse than lazy (and we all know it). 

Robert J. Borer

P.S. In the old days, the ultimate check and balance on an employee was the Boss. That’s still true today. We the People are the Boss. Evnen isn’t doing what he was "hired" to do. He was s-elected by the swamp to do their bidding, and he's served them well. He's serving himself well, too. He didn't leave a six-figure job to take a five-figure one. Don't worry. The truth will prevail and there will be consequences.

Bcc: various NE "elected" officials.

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I’ll close with this Scriptural admonition:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1Jn 2:15-17)

God Bless,

Robert J. Borer