Elected officials use Smith County recount as example in conversation about integrity of voting system

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - In the days after a partial recount in the race for Smith County Pct. 1 commissioner, the process is being used as an example in a bigger conversation about the accuracy and integrity of the system currently in place.

Incumbent Pam Frederick requested the recount after losing the Republican Primary to challenger Christina Drewry by 101 votes. From the start, Frederick said she was doubtful that the recount would end with a different outcome.

“There wasn’t a lot of likelihood that it was going to change the votes,” Frederick said.

And while Frederick conceded the race after just one day of counting, she and Smith County Republican Chair David Stein see the recount as an example of the accuracy of the voting process in place in Smith County.

“That hand count proved that the system we are using in Smith County, whatever people think or don’t think, that recount showed that our system is producing accurate results,” Stein said.

Smith County voters currently use ES&S voting machines to select their choices and print a paper of the ballot, which is then fed into a scanner for tabulation and storage. In the recount, five teams of three volunteers spent Tuesday hand-counting ballots in a tedious process that included ballots sticking together and human error. Frederick said counters occasionally called the wrong name and marked votes for the wrong candidate.

“Not with intent to harm,” Frederick said. “It was just a human error. And by the late afternoon, fatigue was setting in, people were getting tired, and emotions were getting a little edgy. And it just didn’t seem to be an effective, modern, reasonable way to do what we need to do. I can’t imagine doing that for an entire election.”

After counting 3,214 ballots, the results matched those tabulated electronically with the exception of one undervote, someone who voted but not in this race, meaning it would not have affected the ultimate outcome.

“We had a target number,” Frederick said. “We knew what the machine said happened in each precinct at each voting location. So, we were able to reconcile those numbers.”

Frederick ended up calling the recount off late Tuesday night after it was clear that the results would not only be confirmed, but that the process proved a point about the complicated and costly nature of hand-counting ballots. The partial recount is estimated to have cost Frederick about $1,500, according to Stein. Frederick said Smith County currently uses about 180 workers for an election. Based off the recent election in Gillespie County, she believes Smith County would need 1,250 workers to hand-count ballots.

“What we learned is the machines didn’t make a mistake,” Frederick said. “I’ve left the (commissioners) court with proof that what they’re doing works.”

While Frederick and Stein see the recount as a reason to maintain the current voting system in place, Drewry is using it to make a case for hand-counting paper ballots.

���Contrasting Tuesday’s recount process with an Election Day hand count, there would be no sorting or digging for certain ballots like a needle in a haystack,” Drewry said. “A normal hand count is just simply counting the races on all ballots that will be uniform at each voting location. Entire countries around the world hand count paper ballots on Election Day with results shortly following the closing of the polls. If the French can figure this out, I’m positive that Smith County can as well.”

Drewry said she was “thrilled” with Frederick’s decision to request a recount because she saw it as an opportunity to learn more about the process.

“We know that the people support paper ballots, and we need to listen and find a solution, not kick the can down the road because we don’t understand the process. The whole goal of the election discussion is to restore the faith of the voters in the election process by delivering results that are accurate, transparent, verifiable and auditable,” Drewry said.

RELATED:

• Incumbent Smith County Pct. 1 Commissioner Pam Frederick withdraws petition for recount, concedes to Christina Drewry
• Recount to begin Tuesday in Smith County commissioner race separated by 101 votes
• Recount set in Smith County Pct. 1 commissioner race separated by 101 votes
• Primary election preview: Drewry challenges Frederick in Smith County commissioner race

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