Ranked Choice Voting Hand Count

The Minneapolis Method Ranked Choice Voting Hand Count Process General Election November 3, 2009

Must do a hand count
Elections Warehouse – Daily staff of 100+
15 Counting Precinct Pods
6 person team/pod
6 Data Entry & Analysis Stations - warehouse
2 person team/station
4 person analyst team
Single Shifts/Full or Half Days; Option to increase as needed
Six Workdays per Week: Mon – Sat 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Count complete week of Dec. 21 st
Minneapolis Method for Hand-Counting RCV

Minneapolis Method of Hand-Counting RCV
Confirm Absentee Ballots are counted
Transport to pod: Precinct ballots & supplies
Hand-count each precinct at Precinct Pods
Voter Error Accounting
For each office on ballot
Triple Sort each candidate including specific write-ins
Count ballots & complete Precinct Office Ballot Summaries
Data entry & analysis to determine winners

Typical RCV Days
Monday - Saturday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
First day: Wed Nov 4, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Color-coded nametags to indicate EJ name & political party
Counters assigned to Teams at Precinct Pods using political party balance

Precinct Pods & Data Entry Count/Sort Table Count/Sort Table VEA Orig/Accounted Write-In Ballots Count/Sort Table Supply Table Supply Table VEA Supply Table Output Table Data Entry/Analysis Precinct Ballots IN Results OUT Ballot Summaries IN

Voter Error Accounting Process Steps VEA SORT DUPLICATION First, all ballots in the precinct examined for voter errors, such as skipped columns or overvotes Then, each ballot with an error is duplicated exactly onto a blank ballot, with the exception of the races with errors. Those are marked according to directions in Ordinance.

Voter Error Accounting Chart Blank Blank Blank Blank Blank Blank 1, 2, & 3 Undervote Blank Blank A Blank Blank A 2 & 3 Skipped ranking Blank Blank A Blank A Blank 1 & 3 Skipped ranking Blank Blank Blank A Blank Blank 1 & 2 Skipped ranking Blank B A Blank B A 3 Skipped ranking Blank B A B Blank A 2 Skipped ranking Blank B A B A Blank 1 Skipped ranking Blank Blank A A A A 1, 2, & 3 Repeat candidate Blank B A B B A 2 & 3 Repeat candidate Blank B A A B A 1 & 3 Repeat candidate Blank Blank A B A A 1 & 2 Repeat candidate Blank B A C/D B A 3 Overvote Blank Blank A D B/C A 2 Overvote Blank Blank Blank D C A/B 1 Overvote 3rd After 2nd After 1st After 3rd Before 2nd Before 1st Before Problem Columns Problem

Triple Sort, Count & Summary FIRST SORT SECOND SORT THIRD SORT SUMMARY All ballots are sorted in to piles by first choice in the race. One by one, first choice piles are sorted by first AND second choice. One by one, first+second choice piles are sorted by first/second AND third choice. Every first/second/third choice pile is counted and a summary sheet is made. This entire process is repeated for each ballot 5 times – once per race.

Write-In Votes
Count as part of each unique Ballot Summary
Source Documents
MS 204C.22 - Voter Intent
Minneapolis Ordinance Title 8.5 chapter 176

Precinct Ballot Summaries
Group ballots with the same 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices
Hand count and record information on Ballot Summaries for each unique combination
Hand-count method: 2 EJs are looking at office side of ballot.
Confirm each ballot has exact same combination
Count to 25 & stagger piles of 25

Precinct Ballot Summary Candidate Arness Candidate Carter Candidate Dell B A B C B D B C D B A C B D C B C A Candidate Buford B D A B A D Office Precinct _ # of Ballots BUF CAR ARN 30 First Choice Sort Second Choice Sort Third Choice Sort Ballot Summary Office Precinct _ # of Ballots BUF DEL ARN 20

Ward ________________ MAYOR Precinct ________________ 1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice Number of Ballots ________________ ________________ ________________ __________ Ward ________________ COUNCIL MEMBER Ward ____________ Precinct ________________ 1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice Number of Ballots ________________ ________________ ________________ __________ Ward ________________ BD of EST & TAX Precinct ________________ 1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice Number of Ballots ________________ ________________ ________________ __________ Ward ________________ PARK DISTRICT________ Precinct ________________ 1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice Number of Ballots ________________ ________________ ________________ _________ Ward ________________ PARK AT LARGE Precinct ________________ 1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice Number of Ballots ________________ ________________ ________________ ___________ Sample Ballot Summary forms

Data Input – Digitizing Summary Data

Data Analysis

Data Analysis – Rules (in a nutshell)
VEA
Single Seat
Establish threshold
Tally all votes for highest ranked continuing candidate on each ballot
If no winner, defeat the candidate or candidates with the lowest vote total (i.e. who has no chance of winning) and loop back to (2).
Multi Seat (same thing with one addition)
Establish threshold
Tally all votes for highest ranked continuing candidate on each ballot.
If not all the seats are filled, defeat candidate or candidates with no chance of winning (i.e. lowest votes) and loop back to (2).
If all candidates have a chance of winning, distribute a surplus and loop back to (2).

Results
All results released on the web
Election Night machine results (Unverified First Round Results)
From precinct ballot scanners – all 3 choices
Released Election night
Only somewhat useful
Hand-count progress reports
Update on number of precincts finished counting
Released daily

Results
Round by round race results (Unofficial results)
From hand-count
Random ward order
Winners
Ballot Summary spreadsheets
How every ballot in the city was marked
Precinct level data
Available at the end of the count
Official Results: as canvassed by the City Council
Fri 11/6/09: Ballot question
Week of 12/21/09 (tentative): All offices

Error proofing
Two-person teams at every step to catch & correct errors
Reconciliation points along the way to catch & correct errors
Number of votes counted reconciled with ballot scanner count
Number of votes redistributed during rounds of calculation balanced
Total number of votes reconciled after every round of calculation
Process Integrity
All count staff are Election Judges and/or City staff
Party balance in every two-person team
Ballot security: envelopes from precincts sealed, observers remain in observer gallery, warehouse security system
Computer security: unique user IDs and passwords, all data stays in City’s secure network (never goes through the Internet)
Records: Daily seating chart, Content management system
Error-proofing and Process Integrity

Questions?

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Ranked Choice Voting Hand Count

by Ona Keller

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