2026-11-05 03:01 UTC
"Recounts", as implemented in almost every state, were designed as a safeguard against small-scale human error, dating from the days when ballots were hand counted (sometimes by candlelight) on election night. It was natural to expect that people would make mistakes.
So recounts are generally triggered when the margin of victory is within the expected margin for error of the counting process that existed at the time the law was enacted.
The assumptions here are obsolete.
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Replies (1)
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@mattblaze@federate.social 2026-11-05 03:06
That is, recounts assume that any errors in the tally will be fairly small. The precise margin that triggers a recount varies from state to state, but almost every state recount rules are based on this assumption. But modern automated ballot tally systems are vulnerable to different kinds of errors than those committed by fatigued (or perhaps even dishonest) human counters. Current systems might make small errors, but they can also fail much more catastrophically. 3/