Not Quite a Blog

Ohio is one of the many states that has a paper trail (VVPAT) requirement but doesn't also conduct post-election audits (hand tallying of the paper records as a check against the electronic records before the results of the election are certified). However, as part of any recount in Ohio (whether triggered or requested) precincts corresponding to 3% of the vote must be randomly selected and hand counted (if the hand and electronic tallies agree, the rest can be recounted by machine; if not, all ballots must be hand counted).

The OH Secretary of State has recently issued a Directive that specifies how precincts are to be chosen randomly in a recount "Directive 2007-30: Recount Procedures".

Here is the scheme specified in that directive (this is from page 6 of the Directive):

1. Draw a "political subdivision" (township, city, etc.) within the electoral district by lot.
2. Choose the lowest numbered or lettered ("A" being low) precinct.
3. Go to the next political subdivision and choose the lowest numbered or lettered precinct.
4. Do this until you encompass enough votes to make up 3% of the votes cast in the race being recounted. When you run out of political subdivions, start over choosing the next highest precinct.

This is decidedly not random. The selection of which political subdivision to start with is; it's chosen by lot. But the precincts chosen will always be those that have low numbers or letters.

UPDATE [2007-12-23T16:12:29]: This was originally published last month with a snarky, disrespectful tone. I've since edited it to be more objective. In case you are wondering, yes, I believe that the OH SoS is aware of this issue and why it's a problem.