I removed the identifying info. Just wanted folks to know that many are working on this issue. This lawsuit is about a local Health Care Board. It was a contentious local election. Marin uses optical scan ballots that are of concern in other states. A local candidate wants a recount and the local Registrar wants to charge much to recount the votes. The lawsuit is about when recounts should occur and how much a Registrar should charge. The election was very close and results could be changed. (For the record...I was not involved in any of these campaigns for the local board. It's an opportunity to check the validity of the voting machines.)
PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE VOTE
Monday, December 6, 8:30 AM, will file a lawsuit against the Marin County
Registrar of Voters, asserting that the estimated manual recount costs ($168,000) for the Healthcare
District election violates the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. In 20
other states, a difference of less than 0.5% would trigger an automatic recount. Candidates typically
pay little or nothing toward the costs of automatic recounts.
• Stand up for as he stands up for his rights - and ours. Show up at Room 113 in the
Civic Center at 8:15 AM Monday morning to support request for an affordable recount.
• Support effort to protect the vote. Send contributions to help defray costs to the
• Send letters to the Editor of the Marin IJ, the Pacific Sun, and the Scope newspapers supporting
lawsuit and its importance to voting integrity.
• Serve as an observer. If the recount goes forward, is permitted to have one observer for
each election panel. You must serve for one 8-hour day. This would be entirely uncompensated
volunteer work. Please contact the if you wish to serve in this role or to help in other
If wins this suit, regardless of the outcome of the recount, California election law will
change and we will be one step closer to independently verifiable elections.
The District has two open seats. 147,454 votes were cast for five candidates. The final canvass reported wins for Archimedes Ramirez
(43,236 votes) and Sharon Jackson (33,718). Frieman (33,261 votes) was 457 behind Jackson. Judy House (27,343 votes) and Terry
(9,638 votes) trailed.
The 457-vote difference is 0.31% of the total 147,454 votes cast. Such a small difference is a statistical "black hole." Voting machines
are accurate to 1.0% to 0.50%. Below that, one needs a manual recount to be sure of the actual number. Marin County uses the
...Diebold AccuTron. Votes are marked on a paper ballot and then scanned into the computer. Because we have a paper ballot, a recount
is physically possible and ethically imperative.
To verify a small difference, many states automatically require recounts. Some invoke recounts at 1%, others at 0.50%. (See
http://www.electionline.org/site/docs/html/recount_provisions_-_part_1.htm) The 0.31% difference in this race would trigger an
automatic recount in many other states. The unfortunate situation we face is that California does not have automatic recount
legislation. So a candidate needs to be very committed to ask for a recount in a District so large.
Candidates typically pay little or nothing toward the costs of automatic recounts.Ohio charges $10 per precinct. In Marin, that would
translate to 2 cents to recount each ballot. Washington charges 25 cents per ballot. Both those states have automatic recounts.
California has none. Santa Cruz would charge about 67 cents per ballot. Projecting Michael Smith's estimate the recount could cost
$1.57 per ballot, or $168,819. Two statisticians estimate the recount could be done for 2-3 cents per ballot.
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