Calls for Janice Winfrey to resign as city clerk grow - 60% of Detroit precints wrong

[Mackinaw]

This is all probably quite right, but let's not forget that Detroit's voting equipment surely is not appropriately funded by state and federal sources as it ought.

I don't understand the election law provision under which a mismatch in ballots caused the recount to stop. Wasn't that the whole fucking point of the recount-- to simply count each PAPER ballot to account for equipment malfunctions or possible equipment tampering/hacking?

I am appalled at the level of discourse surrounding the Michigan recount and the ability of the Republicans to convince people that a recount costing $1 per actual voter was not worth it to audit our system. Shame on them and double shame on the democrat leadership in Michigan, whereever they f'ing are, for not stepping up to call the republicans on their bullshit. We'll never know whether our machines were tampered, whether the Russians hacked our voting apparatus just as they hacked other state's registration systems and disseminated false news....all because of $1 a voter. I decry Snyder for not being a leader, and the SOS for being a clown in a failing to embrace the idea of an audit. And again, where were the democrat voices? Are they just accepting Trump as president so that he can implode, ruin the economy, and make them look good in 2-4 years? Not okay.

And will these problems in Detroit that were uncovered immediately upon the start of the recount be rectified before the next election...of course not.

Michigan has an opportunity to distinguish itself from the rest of the nation as an intelligent, open-minded place. Instead we are looking just as savage as everyone else, if not worse.

[Honky Tonk]

This is all probably quite right, but let's not forget that Detroit's voting equipment surely is not appropriately funded by state and federal sources as it ought.

I don't understand the election law provision under which a mismatch in ballots caused the recount to stop. Wasn't that the whole fucking point of the recount-- to simply count each PAPER ballot to account for equipment malfunctions or possible equipment tampering/hacking?

I am appalled at the level of discourse surrounding the Michigan recount and the ability of the Republicans to convince people that a recount costing $1 per actual voter was not worth it to audit our system. Shame on them and double shame on the democrat leadership in Michigan, whereever they f'ing are, for not stepping up to call the republicans on their bullshit. We'll never know whether our machines were tampered, whether the Russians hacked our voting apparatus just as they hacked other state's registration systems and disseminated false news....all because of $1 a voter. I decry Snyder for not being a leader, and the SOS for being a clown in a failing to embrace the idea of an audit. And again, where were the democrat voices? Are they just accepting Trump as president so that he can implode, ruin the economy, and make them look good in 2-4 years? Not okay.

And will these problems in Detroit that were uncovered immediately upon the start of the recount be rectified before the next election...of course not.

Michigan has an opportunity to distinguish itself from the rest of the nation as an intelligent, open-minded place. Instead we are looking just as savage as everyone else, if not worse.

But Janice Winfrey, who spends boatloads of money on billboards and name recognition, and has been screwing up vote accountability for every election so far, gets a free pass. I can tell your head's screwed on correctly.

[EastsideAl]

This is all probably quite right, but let's not forget that Detroit's voting equipment surely is not appropriately funded by state and federal sources as it ought.

I don't understand the election law provision under which a mismatch in ballots caused the recount to stop. Wasn't that the whole fucking point of the recount-- to simply count each PAPER ballot to account for equipment malfunctions or possible equipment tampering/hacking?

I am appalled at the level of discourse surrounding the Michigan recount and the ability of the Republicans to convince people that a recount costing $1 per actual voter was not worth it to audit our system. Shame on them and double shame on the democrat leadership in Michigan, whereever they f'ing are, for not stepping up to call the republicans on their bullshit. We'll never know whether our machines were tampered, whether the Russians hacked our voting apparatus just as they hacked other state's registration systems and disseminated false news....all because of $1 a voter. I decry Snyder for not being a leader, and the SOS for being a clown in a failing to embrace the idea of an audit. And again, where were the democrat voices? Are they just accepting Trump as president so that he can implode, ruin the economy, and make them look good in 2-4 years? Not okay.

And will these problems in Detroit that were uncovered immediately upon the start of the recount be rectified before the next election...of course not.

Michigan has an opportunity to distinguish itself from the rest of the nation as an intelligent, open-minded place. Instead we are looking just as savage as everyone else, if not worse.

Can I give this a thumbs up? I've been appalled at the double-talk and nastiness of the GOP on this issue. As if expressing the right to request a recount, and trying to make sure that every citizen's vote is counted correctly in a very close election, is tantamount to some sort of anti-American insurrection.

But then what else should I have expected from a party that has become a supporter of open voter suppression efforts, and opposes any reforms that would make registration easier and more open, and voting systems standardized, more verifiable, and more accurate?

[JBMcB]

I don't understand the election law provision under which a mismatch in ballots caused the recount to stop. Wasn't that the whole fucking point of the recount-- to simply count each PAPER ballot to account for equipment malfunctions or possible equipment tampering/hacking?

A recount isn't the place to check if your voting system is working or not.
If you want to audit the voting system, then you do an audit. Set up a dry run, run through the process, and check the results. Then compare them with the results of a real election, when you aren't time constrained and can do it properly.

There is going to be some margin of error, preferably pretty low. You want them to be the same during the audit than during the election. You don't do the election first then do the audit - it's basic process control theory.

[EastsideAl]

A recount isn't the place to check if your voting system is working or not.
If you want to audit the voting system, then you do an audit. Set up a dry run, run through the process, and check the results. Then compare them with the results of a real election, when you aren't time constrained and can do it properly.

Except that never happens, and no one is going to appropriate the funds to do it. So a recount procedure is, realistically, the only time we get to closely examine what actually happens with our ballots and how they are counted. I agree with the poster above that uncovering and rectifying such discrepancies would seem to be one of the basic reasons for, and functions of, a recount.

As a Detroit voter, given what's been discovered so far, I certainly think that I have a basic democratic citizenship interest in trying to find out what became of my vote and those of my neighbor and fellow city residents. And in making sure that the votes have been counted as fully and fairly as possible. Although, with Judge Goldsmith's ruling, I guess we don't have a right to find that out, and now almost certainly never will.

[MikeyinBrooklyn]

Aside from systemic corruption, Detroit's biggest problem with local government has been sheer incompetence. Duggan has successfully shaken a lot of the cobwebs out of city government, but Winfrey's domain is out of his control, as she is an elected officer in her own right. She should probably resign, but whoever is in the job needs to modernize and make professional the entire operation. I am not sure that the next hack who takes the job will do that. I'd love to see Chief Craig become city clerk.

[JBMcB]

Except that never happens, and no one is going to appropriate the funds to do it.

Spoke too soon

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...udit/95358702/

So a recount procedure is, realistically, the only time we get to closely examine what actually happens with our ballots and how they are counted. I agree with the poster above that uncovering and rectifying such discrepancies would seem to be one of the basic reasons for, and functions of, a recount.

No, a recount just counts the ballots again. If there is a discrepancy, you need to do a root cause analysis to figure out what happened. That's what an audit is for. You don't need to recount all the ballots to do this, which is why the recount was a waste of time if this was your end goal.

Think of it this way - a recount would have cost, for the sake of argument, $5 million. It wouldn't tell you what is causing any discrepancies, only if there are any. Or you can just do the audit, which would probably cost less than $5 million, and would tell you what is causing the discrepancies.