by Melissa S. Green

The initial hand recount of 15 precincts from Anchorage’s April election was completed on May 14, but some races will be recounted for “clarification” — but recount observers note additional discrepancies, lack of training for recount workers, and the Municipality of Anchorage’s continuing failure to observe the rule of law in conducing the recount.

[caption id="attachment_8254" align="alignright" width="384" caption="A handcount worker holds completed tally sheets from precinct 840 (Service High School) on May 11."][/caption]

For the last several days, I have been engaged in observing the hand recount of 15 precincts from the botched April 3 Municipality of Anchorage election called for on May 2 by ten qualified Anchorage voters. I am one of those ten qualified voters; the others are Hal Gazaway, Barbara Gazaway, Joseph McKinnon, Zobia Kennedy, Dana Klein, Wendy Isbell, Steven McCoy, Kelly Walters, and Linda Kellen Biegel.  For the four days of the recount so far, both the Recount Group (or observers acting on our behalf) and from the One Anchorage campaign, which had sponsored the apparently failed Proposition 5, the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative, had official observers present.

Yesterday, the Municipal Clerk’s office issued its Media Advisory 15, announcing that,

The initial recount of the votes cast in 15 precincts in the April 3, 2012 Anchorage Municipal Election has been completed. Tomorrow, May 16, at 1 pm in Room #155, City Hall, 632 W. 6th Avenue selected races in certain precincts will be recounted to clarify results.

The 15 precincts which we observed being handcounted from Wednesday, May 9, through Monday, May 14 (excluding the weekend) were:

• 215    Guening Middle School
• 220    Eagle River Lions Club
• 235    Mt. Spurr Elementary
• 240    Fire Lake Elementary School
• 340    Mountain View Elementary School
• 445    East High School
• 550    MOA Public Works Permit Ctr.
• 610    Northwood Elementary School
• 625    Steller Secondary School
• 660    Spenard Recreation Center
• 670    Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
• 675    Romig Middle School
• 830    Hanshew Middle School
• 840    Service High School
• 925    Huffman Elementary School

Of these, the Municipal Clerk’s office plans to recount the following:

• Precinct 235 — Proposition 4
• Precinct 550 — Proposition 7
• Precinct 660 — Another hand count of total ballots, since the number exceeds the AccuVote count
• Precinct 830 — Proposition 7
• Precinct 840 — ASD Race E and ASD Race F
• Precinct 925 — Mayor and Proposition 1

Unfortunately, the Municipal Clerk’s office is failing to address discrepancies in an  additional 11 races in 5 of the precincts that we identified in our own analysis.

The discrepancies I’m referring to were of totals of all votes tallied in a given race within a given precinct not matching the total number of actual physical ballots for that precincts. These disrcepancies resulted from errors made by the two-person teams of workers actually doing the handcounts. A major feature throughout the four days of handcount I’ve already observed showed that of the six handcount teams, three were observed to use procedures or otherwise have issues conducive to inaccuracy that were remarked upon by multiple observers independently of one another. Thus, I wasn’t terribly surprised to find, when I input totals tallied on their tally sheets into my spreadsheet that those teams made errors — errors in at least one race for every precinct that those teams counted. I supplied the Municipal Clerk’s office with the spreadsheets, noting all the discrepancies I had found, and our concerns.

The main problem that I saw was that the hand count teams received minimal instruction, and minimal direction in how to conduct their work. Each team was essentially left to figure out for themselves how to accomplish their tasks — instead of being trained in advance in well-designed procedures that would produce accurate results across the board.

This morning, the 10-voter recount group sent out a press release about these issues, and with a followup on a prior press release (issued on May 10) about the Municipality of Anchorage’s failure to follow the rule of law in its conduct of the hand recount.  Both press releases are included below. See also the attached letter mentioned in the May 10 press release:

• 10 May 2012. “Re: Hand Count” — letter to Barbara Gruenstein from Hal P. Gazaway, chair of Recount Group. A copy of this letter was also hand-delivered by Hal Gazaway to Ernie Hall, Assembly Chair, on May 10.

I will again be observing today as the Municipal Clerk’s office conducts its “clarification” recount of the races it has identified.

Press release of May 16

For Immediate Release | May 16, 2012

Hand Recount Leads To Flipped Race in One Precinct, Other Anomalies. Municipal Clerk’s Office Forced To Count Again
Hand Counting Plagued with Rampant Errors, No Clear Procedures, Security Breaches; Still Not Following Municipal Code

Contacts: Hal Gazaway – (907) 338-8111 – hpgazaway@gci.net
Linda Kellen Biegel – (907) 830-9458 – celticdivaak@yahoo.com

Anchorage, AK — The Municipal Clerk’s office announced in Media Advisory 15 that the hand count will continue Wednesday at 1:00 pm. The Advisory states that this will be a count of already hand-recounted precincts and that the results need to be “clarified.” In truth, this count is happening because observers from the Election Hand Recount Application Signers discovered that the results for certain races did not match the Accu-Vote counts and pointed this out to the Municipal Clerk on Friday and Monday.

These are not the first problems. On the first day of counting, Wednesday May 9th, the tally sheets were all off because the incorrect ballots were pulled from the ballot storage closet. In truth, there has not been one single day of the hand count when where at least some of the races if not entire precincts required additional counting due to inaccurate and inconsistent counting procedures:

1) According to members of the Election Board, there was no direction forthcoming from the Municipal Clerk’s Office on how to count the ballots for the hand recount. Therefore, each team of two ballot counters (unlike the four-person teams the State of Alaska uses) was forced to come up with their own counting method.

2) When it was pointed out to the Municipal Clerk multiple times by multiple observers that one team was plagued with errors, that team returned to count the next day and the next, bringing with them the same errors.

3) In precinct 925, Huffman Elementary, their hand count even flipped a race (Proposition 1 – ASD school bond).

4) The Election Hand Recount Application Signers have maintained from the beginning our concern that the teams were counting facsimile ballots rather than the originals from which the election board copies the information to scan it into the machine. This opens up a Pandora’s Box of potential inaccuracy and security breaches. A written comment on the tally sheet from an election board member counting Hanshew 830 stated that a facsimile ballot “did not match” the original.

5) The Municipality has so far refused to count the unused ballots. They have not provided them for visual inspection.

6) There are rampant security lapses.

a) Hanshew 830 had a note on the tally sheet that there was no “seal” on the ballot container when they started counting.

b) Hand Count Observers watched in shock on Monday while a Municipal Clerk Office employee entered the “ballot vault” in room 155 all alone with no other employee present.  We had been assured by Barbara Gruenstein that no fewer than two employees ever entered.

7) The counting teams start a precinct with a tally sheet that has the Accu-Vote total marked at the top.

8) The hand recount continues to violate the “Rule of Law”:

a) The Municipal Clerk compared the count to the Accu-Vote totals rather than the signed register, as is also required in AMC 28.90.040 “The election board shall check the number of ballots cast in a precinct against the registers…”

b) Assembly Chair Ernie Hall and Municipal Attorney Dennis Wheeler have not replied to either of Hal Gazaway’s letters as to whether they will do the recount of the absentee & questioned ballots required in AMC 28.90.040. “…and shall check questioned and absentee ballotsvoted against questioned and absentee ballots distributed.”

3) No one in the Municipality has responded to the group’s records request that submitted with our recall application on May 2nd, nor have we received any explanation for the delay, as required in AMC 3.90.060: “If the records and information cannot be located in time to make a response within two working days of the request, the requesting party shall be promptly advised, and, if the requesting party still desires the information or records, a reasonable and diligent search shall be made for it.”

The counting reconvenes this afternoon at 1:00 pm, City Hall Rm 155.

Press release of May 10

For Immediate Release | May 10, 2012

In Hand Recount, Municipality Fails to Follow Rule Of Law, Security Protocols
Hand Counting Procedures not Following Municipal Code / Recount Procedures

Contacts: Hal & Barbara Gazaway – (907) 338-8111 or 229-3089 – hpgazaway@gci.net
Melissa Green – (907) 250-1576 – yksinainen@gmail.com
Linda Kellen Biegel – (907) 830-9458 – celticdivaak@yahoo.com

Anchorage, AK — Wednesday was the first day of the April 3rd Municipal Election Hand Count of 15 precincts, initiated by 10 Anchorage qualified voters through the Election Recount process (AMC 28.90.010). The group’s official observers witnessed numerous issues:

• The ballots are stored in a closet with windows, an unsecured acoustical tile ceiling and a common lock on the door handle.
• The interior of the “ballot vault” appears to be a storage closet containing stacks of boxes, envelopes, drawings, ballot bags, and other items. Municipal Clerk employees had to dump out a box of manilla envelopes filled with facsimile ballots in order to find the correct precincts.
• When vote tallies in five out of the first six precincts counted did not match the Accu-Vote count the entire morning, it wasn’t until lunch time that Municipal Clerk & staff discovered they had brought out the wrong facsimile ballots
• Counters are working in teams of two with no one doing any back-up checking. An observer witnessed several mistakes getting through both members of one team and notified the Municipal Clerk

Hal Gazaway, one of the 10 voters who signed the Election Recount Application to initiate this hand count, documented more of the procedural anomalies in a letter today to Assembly Chair Ernie Hall — a follow up to a similar letter presented yesterday. Several of these issues are a flagrant violation of Municipality Election Law:

1. Failing to include absentee and questioned ballots for each precinct per AMC 28.90.040.C.

Wednesday, the election workers completed their count of Precinct 675. But the staff did not bring out for counting the ballots cast by early voters, absentee voters, or the questioned ballots. You acknowledged the Municipality keeps questioned ballots by precinct, but the Municipality does not count them in the precinct count. However, that does not exempt them for the requirement of a hand count in order to comply with AMC 28.90.040.C.

If the Municipality cannot separate by precinct the absentee and questioned ballots, then to be in compliance with AMC 28.90.040.C, the Municipality must count them all.

One of the issues Hal identifies is especially concerning. It deals with the practice of using “facsimile ballots.” These are created when any ballots that cannot go through the optical scan machines are copied onto regular ballots by poll workers. According to the 2012 Municipal Election Recount procedures distributed Wednesday to all poll workers, observers and some of the media:

Facsimiles must be kept with the original; after each race is tallied, the facsimile must be returned to the manila envelope with its original and placed inside.

According to hand count observer Mel Green, a temporary Municipal Clerk’s Office employee stated that some of the facsimile votes are kept in a manila envelope separate from the one holding the original ballots. This was witnessed by multiple observers yesterday. The worker also explained that the both the originals and the facsimiles were kept in the same order in their separate envelopes so they could be matched up if necessary. It was unclear how the facsimile ballots that were mistakenly distributed and counted would now be matched up after their order was changed.

Per Hal Gazaway:

Assembly Chair Ernie Hall and other members of the Assembly expressed their firm resolve to follow the “rule of law” when voting to certify the election. We insist that they display that same resolve and follow the “rule of law” during the hand count of the election.

[caption id="attachment_8252" align="alignright" width="620" caption="Door to ballot vault in City Hall Rm. 155 (photo taken 9 May 2012)"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_8251" align="alignright" width="620" caption="Interior of "ballot vault" in City Hall Rm. 155 (photo 9 May 2012)"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_8253" align="alignright" width="620" caption="Temporary employee of Municipal Clerk's office holds manila envelope of facsimile ballots (photo taken 9 May 2012). At the start of handcount work on May 9, the incorrect facsimile ballots (based on questioned ballots) were brought for recount workers to count, instead of those which should have been brought out (facsimile ballots with the original unscanned ballots upon which they were based).  This led to a great deal of confusion through the first two days of the handcount. (Unscanned ballots were ballots completed by qualified voters who had signed the register in their own precincts, but who were forced to vote on sample ballots, photocopies of ballots, or other substitutes because their precinct had run out of proper ballots on Election Day.)"][/caption] Tags: Anchorage municipal election 2012, Proposition 5 Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative (2011-2012)