The top one marked "final", has the paragraph below. Seems like this may mean ballots must be cast and counted by the voting tabulation system? I could be way off but gave it a shot!
(a) “All ballots cast” means ballots cast and counted by the voting tabulation system whether at a precinct location, by vote-by-mail ballot including overseas vote-by-mail ballots, during the early voting period, or by provisional ballot.
Yeah, I was thinking maybe they were saying the only thing that is legal, instead of everything that is illegal. It sounds bad to say "it is illegal to hand-count ballots", they are always pulling confusing shit like that so thought maybe this was one of those cases.
I dug into this after I heard that and I could not find anything that says what he claims. I called my cousin who is a lawyer in Ocala and he laughed and said that nothing is really worded that way in FL laws.
It can't be illegal because if the vote tally between candidates is "too mathematically close to call," the votes get counted by hand. Which defeats the purpose of electronic only vote tabulations.
I dug a bit, I am no lawfag but gave it a go. I found this: https://www.flrules.org/gateway/RuleNo.asp?title=ELECTIONS&ID=1S-2.053
The top one marked "final", has the paragraph below. Seems like this may mean ballots must be cast and counted by the voting tabulation system? I could be way off but gave it a shot!
(a) “All ballots cast” means ballots cast and counted by the voting tabulation system whether at a precinct location, by vote-by-mail ballot including overseas vote-by-mail ballots, during the early voting period, or by provisional ballot.
Yeah, I was thinking maybe they were saying the only thing that is legal, instead of everything that is illegal. It sounds bad to say "it is illegal to hand-count ballots", they are always pulling confusing shit like that so thought maybe this was one of those cases.
I dug into this after I heard that and I could not find anything that says what he claims. I called my cousin who is a lawyer in Ocala and he laughed and said that nothing is really worded that way in FL laws.
101.5604 requires counties to use “electronic or electromechanical precinct-count tabulation voting system”
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0101/Sections/0101.5604.html
Recounts are required to be done by hand.
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0102/Sections/0102.166.html
So it would appear that hand counts aren’t “illegal” per se but cannot be used in the primary canvas/tabulation.
Came from the Florida Election Reform Act of 2001. Brought to you by none other than Marco Rubio...
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2001/1987/?Tab=BillText
It wasn't just that. Although Florida went first. Congress paid states in the "Help America Vote" Act in 2002 to switch to all electronic voting.
It can't be illegal because if the vote tally between candidates is "too mathematically close to call," the votes get counted by hand. Which defeats the purpose of electronic only vote tabulations.