The LA Times says that here in California we value accuracy over speed in vote counting. Fine. I'm all for that. Still, I just looked at the LA mayor race and as of 9 am this morning we've counted 14% of the vote. That seems a mite slow even for the accuracy obsessed, doesn't it?
9 thoughts on “We are nowhere close to knowing who will be mayor of Los Angeles”
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Surf must be up…
It's the rain, they have to let the ballots dry out.
Then they have to be dusted for prints, carbon dated and given some herbal tea.
Yeah, I'm on Team Accuracy Before Speed, too. However, we did better than this before there were computers.
It seems that the United States is getting very bad at running elections.
This will probably be a long comment. If you feel like skipping it, my feelings will not be hurt.
My first election was in 1964 (I was 21), living in Baltimore, Md. I was impressed with how effective and efficient our local elections board ran the election. Soon I moved to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. Once in Prince Georges County and later in Montgomery County, I was again impressed by the effectiveness and efficiency of the elections there.
In 1976 I moved to Virginia, to the city of Virginia Beach. I lived there for 36 years, and I never had less than total satisfaction (and admiration) for the way our elections were run. In 2012 I moved to The Villages, in Sumter County FL. I voted there for six years, with total satisfaction and admiration for the way the elections were run there. In 2018 I moved to the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia. I have voted several times here, with total satisfaction and admiration for the way they run the elections here.
During the 58 years of my voting life, I have never missed an election. I feel it a strong obligation, and I put it right at the top of my "Don't miss this" events. In those 58 years I've lived and voted in jurisdictions that were heavily Democratic, heavily Republican, and every mix along that spectrum. Every election I've ever voted in was run effectively and efficiently, and every time I left the voting place in 58 years, I have complimented the folks in charge for the great job they do.
WTF is wrong with our country that the folks who screw up elections can't learn from the folks who do it right???
Look, if a half ton impactor moving 22,500 km/h can strike a target around 160 m in diameter, then surely a few papers could be read accurately much faster.
Say what you will about Florida, but they really are the pinnacle of election day efficiency and accuracy.
They really need to just not announce any preliminary results other than the percentage of vote count completed, and then announce the final results at the end. There's no reason for it, and it feeds disappointment and false hope.