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Vote counting
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===Manual methods=== One method of manual counting is to sort ballots in piles by candidate, and count the number of ballots in each pile. If there is more than one contest on the same sheet of paper, the sorting and counting are repeated for each contest.<ref name="minn">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sos.state.mn.us/media/2701/post-election-review-guide.pdf |title=2018 Post-Election Review Guide |date=2018-07-19 |website=Minnesota Secretary of State }}</ref> This method has been used in Burkina Faso, Russia, Sweden, United States (Minnesota), and Zimbabwe.<ref name="ace"/> A variant is to read aloud the choice on each ballot while putting it into its pile, so observers can tally initially, and check by counting the piles. This method has been used in Ghana, Indonesia, and Mozambique.<ref name="ace">{{Cite web |url=http://aceproject.org/main/english/vc/vcy.htm |title=Country Examples Index β |website=ACE-Electoral Knowledge Network |access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref> These first two methods do not preserve the original order of the ballots, which can interfere with matching them to tallies or digital images taken earlier. Another approach is for one official to read all the votes on a ballot aloud, to one or more other staff, who tally the counts for each candidate. The reader and talliers read and tally all contests, before going on to the next ballot.<ref name="md-pilot">{{Cite web |url=https://www.elections.maryland.gov/press_room/documents/Post%20Election%20Tabulation%20Audit%20Pilot%20Program%20Report.pdf |title=Post-Election Tabulation Audit Pilot Program Report |date=October 2016 |website=Maryland State Board of Elections |access-date=2020-02-14}}</ref> A variant is to project the ballots where multiple people can see them to tally.<ref name="wi-eo"/><ref name="wi-pdf"/> Another approach is for three or more people to look at and tally ballots independently; if a majority (Arizona<ref name="fifeld">{{Cite news |last=Fifield |first=Jen and Andrew Oxford |date=2021-04-24 |title=Arizona election audit: Here's what you're seeing on the video feeds as counting continues Saturday |language=en-US |work=Arizona Republic |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/04/24/arizona-senate-election-audit-video-streaming-what-youre-seeing/7367424002/ |access-date=2021-04-29}}</ref>) or all (Germany<ref>https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/politics/elections-in-germany-checking-and-counting-ballot-papers</ref>) agree on their tallies after a certain number of ballots, that result is accepted; otherwise they re-tally. A variant of all approaches is to scan all the ballots and release a file of the images, so anyone can count them. Parties and citizens can count these images by hand or by software. The file gives them evidence to resolve discrepancies.<ref name="auditguide">{{Cite web |url=https://www.auditelectionsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ballot-Image-Audit-Guide-for-Candidates-and-Campaigns-v1.1-part-1.pdf|title=Ballot Image Audit Guide for Candidates and Campaigns |date=2018-11-26 |website=AuditElectionsUSA.org/download-guide |language=en-US |access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> <ref name="lutz">{{Cite web |url=https://www.copswiki.org/w/pub/Common/OpenBallotInitiative/OpenBallotInitiativeWhitePaper_withsample.pdf |title=The Open Ballot Initiative |last=Lutz |first=Ray |date=2017-01-10 |website=OpenBallotInitiative.org |access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> The fact that different parties and citizens count with independent systems protects against errors from bugs and hacks. A [[checksum]] for the file identifies true copies.<ref name="tracht">{{Cite web |url=https://dickatlee.com/issues/elections/evote/pdfs/EAC_Grant_TEVS_Docs_1.pdf |title=The Humboldt County Election Transparency Project and TEVS |last=Trachtenberg |first=Mitch |date=2013-06-29 |access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> Election machines which scan ballots typically create such image files automatically,<ref name="map">{{Cite web |url=https://www.auditelectionsusa.org/use-newer-machines-with-numerically-pegged-ballot-imaging-to-help-verify-elections/states-precincts-use-ballot-images-physical-ballots/ |title=States/Counties that Use Ballot Images from Paper Ballots |website=AUDIT USA |language=en-US |access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> though those images can be hacked or be subject to bugs if the election machine is hacked or has bugs. Independent scanners can also create image files. [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ballot-foia.png Copies of ballots] are known to be available for release in many parts of the United States.<ref name="rcfp1">{{Cite web |title=I. Election Records Archives |url=https://www.rcfp.org/open-government-sections/i-election-records/ |access-date=2021-04-29 |website=The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="rcfp2">{{Cite web |title=Reporters Committee Election Legal Guide, Updated 2020 |url=https://www.rcfp.org/resources/election-legal-guide/ |access-date=2021-04-29 |website=The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="nass">{{Cite web |date=2013-02-17 |title=National Association of Secretaries of State Survey |url=http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=95 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217200102/http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=95 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-02-17 |access-date=2021-04-29 }}</ref> The press obtained copies of many ballots in the [[2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida#Post-election studies|2000 Presidential election in Florida]] to recount after the Supreme Court halted official recounts.<ref name="norc">{{Cite web |url=http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/fl/votomatic.asp |title=NORC Florida Ballots Project |date=2001-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011214034837/http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/fl/votomatic.asp |access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=2001-12-14 }}</ref> Different methods resulted in different winners.
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