People make mistakes all the time, its human nature. Sometimes those mistakes are trivial, like forgetting to get the key ingredient to make dinner while at the market and not realizing it till its time to add it. Then there are other examples where the outcome is incredibly important, like forgetting to count the votes of one candidate versus the other. This happened all across New York City at the beginning of the month and overwhelmingly it was to the detriment of Obama.
From The NY Times:
Black voters are heavily represented in the 94th Election District in Harlem’s 70th Assembly District. Yet according to the unofficial results from the New York Democratic primary last week, not a single vote in the district was cast for Senator Barack Obama.That anomaly was not unique. In fact, a review by The New York Times of the unofficial results reported on primary night found about 80 election districts among the city’s 6,106 where Mr. Obama supposedly did not receive even one vote, including cases where he ran a respectable race in a nearby district.
City election officials this week said that their formal review of the results, which will not be completed for weeks, had confirmed some major discrepancies between the vote totals reported publicly — and unofficially — on primary night and the actual tally on hundreds of voting machines across the city.
Thank god they have a formal review process. Though it isn't as simple as that. See here in New York we are on our last year (supposedly) of using the old lever machines from way back in the last century. Despite the age and problems that comes with these clunkers, it is still possible to count and recount the votes.
When New York changes over for next year's local contests, the system, both human and computerized must be watched with eagle eyes to make sure that we hold the counters accountable and that results come out properly the first time.
|