November 19, 2004
Que sera sera
What’s a missing ballot or two among friends? 268 misplaced in a box here, 10 in a pouch there, 2 in another box, you know: "Things happen,"
Pinellas election officials said Thursday they had found 12 more uncounted ballots as they dug through boxes in their office this week.Posted by Norwood at November 19, 2004 10:07 AMTwo uncounted absentee ballots were sitting unopened in a box that was headed to the warehouse for storage. And 10 provisional ballots were sitting in a blue pouch in a loading dock area. No one had noticed they had not been counted.
The discovery of those 12 on Wednesday came two days after an employee found a box with 268 uncounted absentee ballots. The unmarked brown banker's box was sitting in plain sight on an office floor, with papers and other boxes stacked on top of it.
Both discoveries came the week after Pinellas County sent final election results to the state.
Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark said she was unaware of the problem because she didn't know that her staff had not performed a standard check to make sure all ballots were accounted for.
......Inside the counting room, the canvassing board chairman, County Judge Patrick Caddell, said people outside would never understand how complex the election process is.
"Things happen," Caddell said.
