Reply #9: The downside of optical scan is....

[harmonyguy]

....some (many?) election officials who insist on handling a recount through something other than a scrutinized human examination of the original paper ballots.

The common non-human choices are:
-Rescan the ballots - BAD
-Reprint the tally tape from the scanner - BAD again
-Print the so-called 'ballot images'and scan or handcount them - really really BAD

..none of which produce what could reasonably be accepted as a valid recount. Still, some election officials insist on being lazy and NOT hand counting recounts.

Candidates who are involved in recounts MUST be prepared to insist on a scrutinized hand recount, where each ballot paper is shown to each scrutineer and they decide on how to count it, and then compare totals at the end of the process.

Machines 'may' be suitable for initial counts, but recounts MUST be done by hand.

HG