6 thoughts on “Madison School Board Seat 1 Election Recount Begins”

  2. I helped Maya with the recount this morning, so I base my comments on what transpired only before noon.
    The atmosphere was cordial. Arlene and people with her were more than willing to be helpful. The city clerk and the poll workers for the day were equally helpful.
    At the same time, the atmosphere was a little chaotic as the pictures document. Sometimes quite a few people crowded into the room with many talking in small groups.
    No one seemed exactly certain about all of the procedures, but everyone wanted a legal and accurate vote count.
    Now for some of the meat of the recount: I lost faith in the voting machines. In Ward 1, the poll workers fed ballots into a machine, which produced totals different from the vote totals reported on election night. They then counted the ballots one by one for each candidate and got a vote total different from the one that the machine just produced and different from the one from election night. So now what? Two machine counts and a hand count produced three different results.
    From talking with people after the counting ended today, I believe the count might have gotten through 20 wards.
    I have no idea whether the gap between Maya and Arlene increased or decrease, and I suspect that no one else knows.
    Again guessing, the gap will probably change ward by ward. At some point, Maya might gain a lead, and then after the next ward Arlene get the lead back.
    The district has about 100 wards. If 20 were counted today, we may not have a final vote until next week. However, the pace might pick up since some of today’s slow downs probably will be avoided tomorrow.
    Stay tuned!

  3. Thanks for the report.
    Sounds like fun (but I’m a little twisted).
    What is scary is that Madison has what are considered “good” voting machines.
    On the long term time frame, I recall something about 13 days from the request being a limit. I’m not sure about that and am too busy to check the statutes.
    TJM

  4. BIG KUDOS to both Arlene Silveira and Maya Cole for handling this like adults and affirming my sincere belief in democracy. They are both setting an example that some of our national political leaders should emulate!

  5. I have no news to report. When I visited the recount effort at 2:30 Thursday afternoon, the process seemed to be complete for upward of 75 (out of 100+) wards.
    Numbers continue to change one or two here and there, sometimes to increase the margin of victory, sometimes to shrink it. So far, the outcome still stands.

  6. For those who have not heard, the recount has ended and confirmed Arlene as the winner. The margin shrunk to, I believe, 82 votes instead of 86.
    After the rocky start in Ward 1 (they got the ballot difference solved in the afternoon when a different set of workers counted the ballots and ended up with a match to the election night results) and the circus atmosphere of everyone trying to understand the process and their roles. I ended up with a very strong faith in the voting machines and the voting process.
    Very few ballots were questioned, much less challenged and darn near all of them proved to have been read and read correctly by the machines. As important, those very few where the ballot was misread or not read 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 and understand why.
    In the end, maybe two dozen votes out of nearly 37,000 were not correctly counted originally, and the was no pattern – Maya would gain one here, Arlene one there, lose two hear, win two there – and the margin never changed by more than 6 votes. The final tally was nearly identical the tally on 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, there’s work on the Board to be done and Arlene can be seated to help fulfill MMSD’s mission.
    MJ

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