Why aren’t election judges trained to hand count when a hand count is the disaster backup plan? (On and before Nov 8, if something seems off, it probably is—document everything)
Top of the Heap - Hand Count
Consult Minnesota election guides and see that hand counting is the disaster backup plan and is not in conflict with Minnesota election statutes. If it was, then the likes of Election Director David Maeda or Secretary of State Steve Simon may have already been heard suggesting it is. Because they cannot say this election judges should feel empowered if they choose to go that route on Tuesday night once polls close, to verify the machine tallies by hand. (Note that the 2022 General Election Head Judge Review which is passed out at head election judge training is not available online.)
Office of the Secretary of State Elections Director David Maeda sent the following to Townships:
- All election judges take the following oath: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will perform the duties of election judge according to law and the best of my ability and will diligently endeavor to prevent fraud, deceit and abuse in conducting this election. I will perform my duties in a fair and impartial manner and not attempt to create an advantage for my party or my candidate.”
- Election judges should not be completing any other tasks (emphasis mine) than those that have been assigned by the head judge and that are part of the normal duties in the polling place.
In other words, David Maeda doesn’t want election judges to hand count to verify tallies.
The latest ‘light suggestion’ from the OSS is hopefully not meant to deter anyone from “diligently endeavor(ing) to prevent fraud, deceit and abuse” to which all election judges take an oath. (This was not the first time David Maeda has attempted to sway the public.)
Furthermore, since hand count is legal and part of the backup plan officially, why then do official election judge trainings and public logic & accuracy demonstrations omit practicing and showing the hand count procedure? (Isn’t that a bit like a school never practicing a fire drill?)
Meanwhile many election judges are wondering about the following phrase from the summary statements they are asked to sign after closing out the polls:
The numbers entered on this
summary statement show the number of votes cast for each
candidate and/or question;
Full summary statement from Anoka (replicated statewide) can be read here.
Keep in mind that once election judges sign off on the restaurant receipt summary tape, the higher ups can say something like, “Well, see, the election judges in Precinct XXX signed off that everything was good… Let’s certify!”
Technically speaking, the phrasing on the summary statement election judges are tasked with signing does not say “accurate numbers” but accuracy is implied. But without doing a hand count to review, how can an election judge verify whether the tabulator recorded, tallied, and reported the votes accurately?
A human can only verify the tabulator tallies were accurate by reviewing them using:
- read and tally
- sort and stack, or
- a hybrid
Perform each preferably with video documentation or livestreaming—note that tabulators are not livestreamed but that digital records known as Cast Vote Records document every vote, but these reports are systematically hidden from public view—in Minnesota from 2020 only one CVR report has been produced, but proof of their existence has prevented county auditors, administrators, and attorneys to dubiously claim they don’t have them.
Logically, no amount of tabulator testing in advance of or after the election can verify what the tabulators actually do on election day. Computers count how they are programmed (often by a human) to count. Instead of a sticker, voters want to know if the machine counted their vote at the specific moment inserted into the tabulator. (Just like aircraft passengers care less about engine testing pre and post flight and care more about engine function mid-flight.)
Since a human is needed to verify vote tallies on ballots anyway, why use the tabulators at all? Here’s a short list of places that are hand counting or both hand and machine counting on Nov 8 or hand counting in future.
- Tripp County, SD (all races)
- Washington County, WI (2 races to be hand counted after machine count)
- Nye County NV (all races)
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AL (banning machines in 2023)
- many more, perhaps hundreds of counties around the country
- and perhaps many within Minnesota too… (1m39s of this video)
This trend will only continue once county commissioners and township supervisors and city council members with authority to opt out of electronic voting machines, electronic pollbooks (and all the data breaches currently unraveling), clean their voter rolls (and much more), actually find the courage to do so. It may take crowds in attendance at upcoming public meetings or the replacement of these failed officials.
Why commissioners, supervisors, and council members? Because at least in Minnesota the chances seem very low at present that anyone at the state level will do anything about the electronics—they’ve had 2 years, and… nada. While few even have the capability it seems of speaking about them, many everyday people I’ve met on the street or at events smile when the topic of computer counting comes up, because it’s so obvious. At a recent album release event I learned that quite a few apolitical, liberal, and even democrat-voting friends are on Team Accountability and Transparency.
It’s not that everyone with the constitutional and legal right to vote should be able to vote, but also that every single one of those voters should be able to understand how their vote was counted, else the system is too complicated. (I challenge everyone to read this attempt to reconcile tabulator logs with cast vote record reports and see whether or not you can honestly say you understand how your vote is being counted.)
The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.
—Thomas Paine, “Dissertation on First Principles of Government,” The Writings of Thomas Paine, ed. Moncure D. Conway, vol. 3, p. 267 (1895). Originally published in 1795. (Quoted by Jeffrey O’Donnell, co-author of fundamental Mesa Report #3, in the October 26, 2022 Pennington County, SD commissioner meeting.)
The MN Bidoncino #3 - 11.06.2022 – East Bethel tabulator malfunctions during early voting; absentee numbers very high; election judges can identify as any party (and change) according to St. Cloud City Clerk; St. Louis Will Hand Count Write-Ins After Citizens Hold County Accountable to Law
Much to sift through this week which had me delayed until Sunday, but Sunday may be a better day for these recaps anyway.
East Bethel tabulator malfunctions during early voting
A reminder that logic & accuracy demonstrations prove nothing about the security and functionality of electronic voting equipment, last week an early voter in East Bethel had his ballot rejected due to a tabulator malfunction. He was told everything would be fine once the machine was fixed. Voters and election judges are encouraged to document in incident logs these occurrences and share widely such that a full view of how many errors or incidents statewide occur.
Occurrences like these in combination with illegal tallying early of absentee across the state is already grounds for full forensic audits at all levels and layers in the Minnesota 2022 mid-term elections. (To learn more about conducting a full forensic audit see Patrick Colbeck’s The 2020 Coup: How it Happened, What We Can Do, so far the best book detailing hard evidence of election fraud in many states.
Absentee numbers already very high
After a record 1.9 million absentee ballots accepted in 2020, Minnesota is on pace for very large numbers again as indicated by the accepted absentee list available to any registered Minnesota voters, including deceased, duplicate, and phantoms, for $46.
Nye County, NV was ordered by the NV Supreme Court to wait to proceed with their hand count until polls close at 8pm so that results wouldn’t be shared early. Reasonable and also the law in Minnesota, except that it has already been confirmed broken by several auditors in the state as requested by the Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. However, one staff member in Anoka County claimed that while the absentee ballots would indeed be put through the scanner (tabulator) before election day, that no votes would be tabulated(!). Believers of such an explanation may soon find themselves believing in fairy tales.
Will absentee ballot numbers approach the record statewide 1.9 million seen in 2020? Bear in mind the illegal early tabulation of absentee votes in the backroom absentee ballot boards across the state allow for election controllers to have a full view of all election data and vote totals so far accumulated. With this information, could black market ballots be delivered to insecure dropboxes across the state just in time where needed (as seen in 2000 Mules)? (This is the reason behind the encouragement to vote in person late in the day on election day—so long as a voter is in line or in the queue before 8pm, they shall be allowed to vote, even if they end up voting after 8pm.)
Election judges can identify as any party (and change it) according to St. Cloud City Clerk
During a head election judge training St. Cloud City Clerk Seth Kauffman boasted that he had previously identified as multiple parties in order to satisfy the party balance requirements and suggested to the head election judge team that this was completely acceptable for them as well.
This demonstrates there are very misguided staff within the Minnesota election system.
The idea that a republican can identify as a democrat or a democrat as a republican or even one of the marijuana parties is approaching the absurd. If the St. Cloud City Clerk admits to partaking in this absurdity, what else is he capable of outside the purview of the public in administering elections? The fact that he has admitted to this behavior while process absentee ballots at the Waite Park Government Center is a real shame.
In the same training, Kauffman suggested to the head election judges that they not offer breaks to their staff, which could be a ploy to tire them out to avoid alertness or the willingness to perform the likely necessary hand counting on election night to verify the machine tallies. Election judges filled out W2s and should absolutely get breaks, including to vote in person, so as not to enter yet another vote into the shadowy absentee ballot process.
Kauffman was also hesitant to show the head election judges how to print the third summary tape which can be posted on the door of the precinct so that the public may know the unofficial results prior to their transfer up to the county and state.
St. Louis Will Hand Count Write-Ins After Citizens Hold County Accountable to Law
An inhabitant of St. Louis County went to the county office to inform them about Minnesota Statute 206.90 Subdivision 10, which states that judges shall count the write in votes and write the number on the forms for the purpose.
In short, the county decided to change its process to follow the law.
Bottom of the Pile - DOCUMENT EVERYTHING
The future will be all in small precincts, paper pollbook registration, voting on paper (thankfully already have this in MN), and counted/tallied in precinct and reported at precinct level, all video livestreamed so no one can complain and that any confidence in outcomes will be warranted.
This is the only way for all citizens to understand the process and have evidence-backed confidence in the process. It’s much cheaper too. So many tax dollars going to unneeded election procedures and equipment easily subverted.
But until we get there, it’s critical for accountability and transparency to document everything.
Minnesota is a one-party consent recording state, meaning if you are part of a conversation it can be recorded legally. Hit record and start asking necessary questions.
If anyone ever wants proof of claims above including recordings, etc., just ask. As seen with Carol’s video here showing MNGOP election fraud, the truth has a way of resonating and spreading quite quickly.
Want more?
Read: [S]elections in Minnesota: How Machines Controlled 2020 (digital) on Amz (paperback) / B&N (paperback) / Soundcloud (audiobook)
Already hundreds of readers including county commissioners—why not order a paperback and give it to your commissioners, supervisors, and election staff? (This removes their plausible deniability and encourages action.)
Good luck and Godspeed to all voters and election judges and poll watchers and candidates and supporters. This is the beginning of massive change in our society. Improving how we choose leaders is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. I look forward to seeing you at your next county commissioner meeting where we will continue to for proper and full forensic audits of the election to come on Nov 8, audits which will undoubtedly reveal many things.
"When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil."
Thomas Jefferson