1% Manual Tally

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1% MANUAL TALLY PROCEDURES

ALAMEDA COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS

BACKGROUND

After Election Day, officials conduct a Manual Tally of one percent (1%) of all the ballots counted. The purpose of the hand count is to confirm that the machine count is accurate. All races in the election must be included in the Manual Tally. Alameda County also hand counts one percent (1%) of the precinct ballots or batches counted in the election. A public notice of the date and time is posted at least five days before the Manual Tally on our website at acvote.org.

 

MANUAL TALLY PREPARATION AND PROCEDURE

Once all batches and precincts have been randomly selected, a tally board of 3 ROV team members will recount each batch or precinct manually. The 3-member board is comprised of one lead and two counters.

  1. Pull all voted ballots from each batch or precinct selected for the 1% Manual Tally.
  2. Prepare all tally sheets with the names of each contest, the names of each candidate in each contest, and indicate the voting position numbers (Vote for One, Vote for Two, etc.) of each candidate or measure to be recounted.
  3. Distribute one batch or precinct at a time to each board for recount.
  4. The lead will print the names of each board member and record the batch or precinct number to be recounted on each tally sheet.
  5. The board will sort the ballots into stacks of ten (10)* as follows:
    1. In a vote for one contest, sort ballots by candidate or for measures by yes and no votes cast.
    2. Separate all overvotes, undervotes, and blank votes in the contest into stacks.
    3. In a vote for two or more, separate the ballots where the first candidate is the first selection, followed by the second, third selection, and so on. Count all the votes for the first candidate and continue in the same manner until all the ballots have been counted.
  6. The caller will read the votes cast for one contest at a time. The two recorders mark the count as the caller reads the votes cast for that candidate. Record the vote with hash marks through the numbers next to each candidate’s name. The marks on row one for each candidate should all point in the same direction. The marks on the second row should point in the opposite direction. The recorders will call out “10”, “20”, etc. after each group of 10 votes counted for a candidate or measure. If the count of 10 is different between the recorders, a recount must be completed. When finished counting each contest, the recorders will write down the total count of each candidate on the lines provided, one in words and the other in figures.
  7. Once the contest has been counted by the board, the supervisor compares the manual tally total with the results for that contest on the summary. When the supervisor verifies that the tallies match, he/she initials the tally. If a discrepancy occurs between the manual tally and the automated count, the ballots are resorted and recounted until the two tallies match. If the tally cannot be reconciled, the batch or precinct shall be given to the supervisor for further inspection and then reassigned to another board. If the results are the same after the second recount, the supervisor will notify the Registrar of Voters of the discrepancy and further action will be taken.
  8. Upon completion of a batch or precinct, the supervisor will update and initial the summary. The list of batches and precincts that is displayed for the public will also be updated with the tally result.
  9. When the 1% Manual Tally is completed, the Registrar of Voters verifies the tally results of all batches and precincts recounted and that all discrepancies have been resolved.
  10. All tally sheets, summary reports, and ballots for the recounted batches and precincts will be boxed, sealed, and reserved for the required amount of time for that election.

 

*During a primary election, the board will sort ballots by political party.

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