Reply #5: Interesting semantics problem for lawyers. [View All]

[Igel]

Are the two processes the same, legally?

On the one hand, you evaluate each ballot, determine the intent of each voter, and total the votes.

On the other hand, you evaluate the ballots as a group to determine the mathematical properties of the subtotals, and then evaluate what the minimum number of votes that each of the major candidates (disregarding the minor candidates) must have been, thereby approximating the intent of the voters as a group.

Evaluate then sum, or sum then evaluate. In a perfect world, they'd yield the same result. In this case, they don't achieve anything close to the same results. "Count each and every vote" seems to argue for evaluating the ballots as individuals before counting, leading to massive ballot disqualification since it's at the level of the individual ballot that there is no heuristic for determining which party a voter was voting in; "determine the will of the electorate with the greatest accuracy possible" would be doing it the other way, that that disregards determining the intent of each voter.

I'd be interested to hear how lawyers familiar with the code and relevant cases interpret it.

On edit: Ah, English shows plurality on nouns. Oops.