Much of the recount process requires that counters and observers maintain
concentration and keep their focus on the ballot before them. Loud or interfering
conversations among bystanders will not be tolerated and bystanders may be
directed into the hallway so that their conversations do not interfere with the
recount process.
10. The Mayor shall unseal the boxes containing the ballots which are to be counted
11.
and the City Clerk will distribute all ballots to the counting teams. A counting
team member will be designated to hold up a ballot and declare for whom the
vote was cast. The counting team member shall afford the observers an
opportunity to view each ballot. The moment when a ballot is presented for
viewing by the observer is the one and only opportunity for the observer to
challenge how the counting team intends to count the ballot.
In a recount for a single seat office, counted ballots will be stacked as follows:
ballots for candidate A, ballots for candidate B, no-vote ballots (blank or overvotes),
write-in ballots, and challenged ballots.
12. If an observer challenges how a ballot is being counted, the counting team may
agree that the ballot was inadvertently being sorted into the wrong stack and if the
counting team and all observers agree, the ballot may be added to the correct
stack.
13. If the counting team and any observer disagree on how to count a ballot, the ballot
will be set aside into the challenged ballot stack. The Board of Aldermen will later
rule on and count the ballots in the protest stack.
14. After the sorting process is complete, one counting team member shall count the
ballots from each stack into groups of 25 ballots.
a. The second counting team member shall recount each stack to verify that
there are 25 ballots in each group.
b. Observers shall be afforded an opportunity to observe the counting in a
manner that permits the observer to verify that the count is accurate. The
moment when the second counting team declares that a group contains
exactly 25 ballots is the last moment when an observer can protest the
accuracy of the count of that group.
15. The counting team shall count the number of stacks of 25 and any remaining
ballots and enter the total number of ballots containing votes for each candidate
on a tally sheet.
a. The counting team shall count in a manner that allows the observer to verify
the accuracy of the count.
