[EM] Cost of Manual Counting vs. Machine Counting

Chris Backert cbackert at gmail.com
Fri May 25 10:16:14 PDT 2007


Any analysis of tabulation cost must consider the length of the ballot. In
the United States in particular you'll find the number of races and ballot
complexity are some of the primary factors in analyzing tabulation costs.

 - Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: election-methods-bounces at electorama.com
[mailto:election-methods-bounces at electorama.com] On Behalf Of James Gilmour
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 12:10 PM
To: election-methods at electorama.com
Subject: Re: [EM] Cost of Manual Counting vs. Machine Counting

> Brian Olson > Sent: 25 May 2007 16:34
> In most estimates that I think are reasonable, machines come out bad to 
> very bad. Unless you think it's worth paying the premium price for fast 
> election night returns.

It does also depend on the voting system you are using and the version of
the rules for that voting
system you are using.  In Northern Ireland the STV counting rules specify
the Gregory Method for
transferring surplus votes.  In that method most ballot papers are sorted
and counted only once.  In
Scotland the STV counting rules specified the Weighted Inclusive Gregory
Method for transferring
surplus votes.  In that method a high proportion of the ballot papers may
have to be sorted and
counted several times over.  Quite apart from the time taken in repeated
sorting and counting, there
are logistical issues about making sure all the differently valued ballot
papers are kept separate
and are handled correctly.  It can be done by hand, but it is certainly much
quicker and easier by
computer.  What caused the delays in the recent Scottish elections was the
unexpected large numbers
of ballot papers that were submitted for adjudication after scanning, many
of which were OK but not
completely within the high level spec set for automatic processing.

James Gilmour

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