TO: Boulder City Council
FROM: Bill Eckert, Al Kolwicz
SUBJECT: Analysis of Boulder County Vote Counting System – Revision to January 4th report.
The City of Boulder intends to use Boulder County’s vote counting system for the March 2005 City Election. Because of the problems encountered by the County during the November 2004 election, it is risky to use the system for the City election.
One way to estimate the reliability of a vote counting system is to count the votes twice. If the results are identical, the system is considered to be reliable. (A reliable system is not necessarily accurate since both results could be incorrect.)
Fortunately, a recount was required for the St. Vrain School District contest. The difference between YES and NO in the original four-county election was less than ½ of one percent – 127 votes.
Recount results and the following analysis shows that the Boulder County vote counting system is not reliable.
- Only 22.8 percent of the 79 precincts achieved identical results.
- There are 759 differences in “ballots counted” section of the reports.
- There are 34 differences in the “votes counted” section of the reports.
Clerical error might explain some, but not all of the differences. Counting equipment error might explain some of the differences. Intentional changes could explain some, but not all of the changes. For example, in precinct 4171107003 there are no differences in the number of ballots counted, yet there are 4 more YES and 1 more NO votes counted.
No matter how the differences are explained, it is the case that the results counted by the Boulder County Vote Counting System are not reliable enough to be used by the City of Boulder for its upcoming March 2005 election.
Potential consequences of using this unreliable system for the City’s March election are:
- The wrong candidate might get elected.
- A recount might be required (possibly counted using the unreliable system).
- The election can be challenged and a new election required.
The Boulder County vote counting system should not be used for the March City election.
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REPORT SUMMARY
January 5, 2005
January 4th, Boulder County released a copy of the original and recount reports for the St. Vrain School District contest. Each county report shows, for each precinct, the number of ballots cast for each voting method (absentee, early, and Election Day). See attached ORIGINAL and RECOUNT reports.
Also attached is a third report showing: (a) the differences in the number of ballots counted by voting method and precinct between the original count and the recount, (b) the differences in the number of votes counted by precinct in the original count and the recount, and (c) the differences between the individual precinct reports.. Notice the following:
The differences between the ballots counted in the original and recount were:
179 Absentee
207 Early
373 Election Day
759 Total
The differences between the votes counted in the original and recount were:
14 Yes
20 No
34 Total
The differences between precinct reports in the original and recount were:
A. Precincts with the same quantity of votes:
18 Same quantity of ballots and, same voting methods
41 Same quantity of ballots and different voting methods
59 Total
B. Precincts with a different quantity of votes
03 Same quantity of ballots and same voting methods
09 Same quantity of ballots and different voting methods
02 More ballots
06 Fewer ballots
20 Total
Only 18 (22.8 percent) of the precinct reports were identical. The remaining 77.2 percent were different.
No matter how the differences are explained, it is the case that the results counted by the Boulder County Vote Counting System are not reliable enough to be used by the City of Boulder for its upcoming March 2005 election.
