Myron, Myron, Myron. I was almost positive Myron Downs would take his seven-vote loss to Nick Abraham and let things be. But yesterday Myron exercised his democratic prerogative and requested a recount, which will take place at City Hall next Friday, May 1, 9 a.m.
Don't expect the city to break out the deck of cards this time. Last year, in an election with twice the turnout, a recount dredged up just one more (questionable) ballot for Scott Delzer. For Downs to stand a chance, City Finance Officer Jeff Heinemeyer will have to find at least seven uncounted ballots or flip four ballots from Abraham's column to Downs's. It doesn't seem likely.
I do not begrudge Myron his legal rights. But a recount reminds us of the statistical error inherent in all of our democratic processes. A recount is just another spin of the wheel, as subject to error as the first count. A more reliable method would be to count the ballots a hundred times and take the average result. But that would be impractically expensive, so we accept our election officials' best effort and get back to work.
Waste of time. Too much gap on a hand-counted election with low turnout.
ReplyDeleteMyron Downs put the "no" in innovation. He's a nice person, but not a leader for our community. He and his cronies, George Lee, John Eisenbeis and Ron Moe were not progressive.
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