Much of the distrust of our election system stems from the lack of transparency.

As citizens we mark our choices on a paper ballot, and then we’re required to feed our ballot into a tabulating machine which uses an entirely opaque process to calculate who wins, or what ballot issues pass.

On top of this, we never verify the results by hand tabulation unless the margin of victory is so close as to warrant an automatic recount, or one which costs thousands of dollars to the person(s) challenging the outcome.

Citizens should demand more, and to bring some small margin of transparency to my little county in Michigan, I recently made a FOIA request for copies of ballots and the tabulator tapes from the November 2022 general election in Crawford County; an election that had two very controversial ballot propositions up for consideration.

I then hand tabulated votes in three precincts for one ballot issue, State Proposal 22-2 which changed our election law. This is what I discovered.

Lovells Township precinct provided 402 ballots (406 ballots were cast and tabulated), so this count was inconclusive due to the fact there were four ballots missing; two were copies of the wrong side of the ballot, and two others were simply not there. I’m inclined to say the tabulator was accurate, since the missing ballots should/could have reflected two Yes votes and two No votes, but again I couldn’t be certain.

Frederic Township provided 675 ballots, 641 of which contained votes for Prop 2. Hand tabulation proved that for this one ballot issue, in this one election the tabulator was 100% accurate.

South Branch Township provided 949 ballots, 921 of which contained votes for Prop 2.

Hand tabulation (and retabulation) confirmed 490 Yes votes and 431 No votes on this single issue. However, the tabulator tape showed 488 Yes votes and 432 No votes for a total of only 920 votes tabulated. One ballot was not tabulated.

The votes of 3 voters were miscounted, and one voter’s ballot wasn’t counted at all; a total of 4 errors and four disenfranchised voters out of 921 ballots.

Given the errors this tabulator exhibited on this one issue, it’s quite possible there were many more errors across all the other races and items on the ballot.

So, what does this prove? It shows us that ballot tabulators are not infallible as we are constantly told. Verification of tabulators by hand tabulation is the only way to ensure the will of the People is being accurately expressed.

I’ve asked several clerks if they have ever verified machine tabulation after an election, and not one has said yes.

All though the errors I uncovered are small, the sample size was also small.

Federal regulation allows an error rate of 1:125,000 ballots, or 0.0008%. The error rate on this one issue, in one election, in one precinct, by one tabulator was 4:921 ballots equating to 0.434%, or 543 times the allowable error rate.

It’s time for citizens to demand election transparency.

Michigan Election Law, MCL Chapter 168.679 says that Township Boards can establish counting boards to tabulate ballots; we do not have to use machines.

Citizens could demand this; however, we must also be willing to step up and provide our time to help man these boards. It should be a truly nonpartisan issue, and we should all be willing to help.

Truth resides in the ballots; not people or machines, however proper hand tabulation comes with checks to eliminate errors, machine tabulators do not.

Citizens in every jurisdiction in our nation should be demanding transparency in ballot tabulation, and if your local government entity won’t provide it, obtain the ballots and count votes yourselves.

The exercise of obtaining and hand tabulating ballots is enlightening. It will expose the various methods the system uses to protect itself, and put your government on notice that we are willing to step up and check their presumed power to control our elections.

Image: Keith Bacongco