[Lnc-business] my audit of LNC At-Large election

Alicia Mattson alicia.mattson at lp.org
Thu Jul 12 14:28:46 EDT 2018


Caryn Ann,

The specifics of the write-in votes are right there on the delegation tally
sheets.

I'm not planning to spend even more time right now to scan 48 more sets of
individual ballots.  Staff is coming up on an LP News deadline, and I'm
going to move on to other subjects today, with the first being getting the
Platform updated so they can highlight the changes for the membership.  If
the LNC wants a full independent audit and additional scanning is needed,
that time investment can come later.  I'm also quickly approaching a policy
deadline for the first draft of the 6/30 LNC minutes, so gotta do that, too.

I meant to make this point in my original transmission message, but keep in
mind what numbers I can or can't influence in this process.  The numbers
originally written on the delegation tally sheets do not come from me.
They come from delegation chairs who believe those numbers to represent the
vote within that affiliate.  If I have accurately moved that number from
the tally sheet into the spreadsheet, then there's little reasonable
complaint to be made.  For the instance in which the state's total for me
needed a correction, I have provided the underlying individual ballots as
backup evidence.  I have done the same for the changes that impact those
near me in the rankings.  I knew as soon as I provided the state-by-state
breakdowns that even further down the ranking list on smaller changes,
questions would exist as to why something is different than the tally sheet
which was submitted.  I've provided detailed explanations for those, and
there's no real motive for me to tweak the 15th-ranked person by 1 vote (or
whatever) if the data doesn't support that.  This should address most of
the reasonable questions.

And for what it's worth, as I said on the list over the past three days, I
was already building this and was about 95% done with it before the motion
for an independent audit even arose.

-Alicia



On Thu, Jul 12, 2018 at 12:50 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos <caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org>
wrote:

> I am doing a brief perusal, this is some fantastic data parsing.  I am
> curious why the write-ins are not noted specifically?
>
> And as far as Zane Sarwark - minors can be sustaining members with their
> parents signing the pledge on their behalf, at least that is what I have
> been told and seen.  Is Zane a sustaining member? If not, Nick needs to get
> on that.  I do not think dead gorillas though can be sustaining members so
> Harambe would be ineligible.  May he rest in peace.
>
> Will the individual ballots for the other states also be provided rather
> than just TX and CA?
>
> -Caryn Ann
>
> On Thu, Jul 12, 2018 at 1:38 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos <caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
> > wrote:
>
>> Thank you.  I will alert the people who have been asking for them.  This
>> also answers Sam's questions as to how the sheets could be transmitted - it
>> is technologically trivial to scan them.
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 12, 2018 at 1:17 AM, Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business <
>> lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
>>
>>>    The At-Large tallies were made under the immense time pressures of the
>>>    tail end of the convention, and as in past years, it is not surprising
>>>    for a post-convention audit to find errors that were not caught
>>> onsite.
>>>    For your reading pleasure, you can review the appendices of the
>>> minutes
>>>    of the previous two conventions for my analyses of those  human
>>> errors,
>>>    which take place even though people are acting in good faith.
>>>    None of the errors revealed by my audit of this year's At-Large race
>>>    change the outcome. The top 5 people on July 3 remain the top 5
>>>    post-audit.
>>>    The largest single discrepancy was that the Colorado delegation tally
>>>    sheet under-reported Joe Buchman by 5 votes.  His relative ranking did
>>>    not change, though.
>>>    Attached is an Excel workbook with three sheets (or tabs):
>>>      * The first contains the state-by-state breakdown that represents
>>> the
>>>        tallies exactly as released onsite on July 3.  You'll notice that
>>>        some cells are color-coded, and that's an indicator for you to
>>> find
>>>        the related note at the bottom of that first tab to answer a
>>>        potential question about that number. Each color has its own
>>>        section of notes, with a header that explains the color grouping.
>>>        White, green and yellow cells include values that did not change
>>> in
>>>        the audited results.  The pink cells did change in the audited
>>>        results for the reasons noted.
>>>      * The second tab contains the audited results, updated to factor in
>>>        the issues in the pink cells.
>>>      * The third tab contains a comparison of the candidate rankings
>>>        reported onsite on July 3 with the rankings for the audited
>>>        results. The variances are minor and do not change the top 5
>>>        finishers.
>>>
>>>    Also attached are the delegation tally sheets for comparison with the
>>>    details in the spreadsheet.  There are 50 sheets, rather than 51.  Not
>>>    present is the Wyoming sheet.  I don't know why that blank page didn't
>>>    make it back into my collection, but Wyoming did not vote in any of
>>> the
>>>    elections, and you can see from the attached spreadsheet that at the
>>>    time of this vote they had 0 delegates credentialed.
>>>    The Mattson/Scheetz/Hayes cluster of candidates seems to be attracting
>>>    the most interest, and the colored cells for that cluster of
>>> candidates
>>>    involve the CA and TX ballots.  These are the two largest delegations,
>>>    and they had the largest tallying task, which just gives more
>>>    opportunities for human error.  Immediately after sending this
>>> message,
>>>    I'll follow up with another email which has the individual ballots
>>> from
>>>    CA and TX attached for your tallying pleasure.  The size of the
>>> scanned
>>>    files warrants two separate emails, else I'd include them here.  I
>>>    scanned in full color at 300 dpi so you can see them in all their
>>>    glory.
>>>    -Alicia
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> *In Liberty,*
>> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
>> Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee Secretary - Caryn.Ann.
>> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org> or Secretary at LP.org.
>> Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
>>
>> A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
>> *We defend your rights*
>> *And oppose the use of force*
>> *Taxation is theft*
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> *In Liberty,*
> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
> Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee Secretary - Caryn.Ann.
> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org> or Secretary at LP.org.
> Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
>
> A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
> *We defend your rights*
> *And oppose the use of force*
> *Taxation is theft*
>
-------------- next part --------------
   Caryn Ann,
   The specifics of the write-in votes are right there on the delegation
   tally sheets.
   I'm not planning to spend even more time right now to scan 48 more sets
   of individual ballots.  Staff is coming up on an LP News deadline, and
   I'm going to move on to other subjects today, with the first being
   getting the Platform updated so they can highlight the changes for the
   membership.  If the LNC wants a full independent audit and additional
   scanning is needed, that time investment can come later.  I'm also
   quickly approaching a policy deadline for the first draft of the 6/30
   LNC minutes, so gotta do that, too.

   I meant to make this point in my original transmission message, but
   keep in mind what numbers I can or can't influence in this process.
   The numbers originally written on the delegation tally sheets do not
   come from me.  They come from delegation chairs who believe those
   numbers to represent the vote within that affiliate.  If I have
   accurately moved that number from the tally sheet into the spreadsheet,
   then there's little reasonable complaint to be made.  For the instance
   in which the state's total for me needed a correction, I have provided
   the underlying individual ballots as backup evidence.  I have done the
   same for the changes that impact those near me in the rankings.  I knew
   as soon as I provided the state-by-state breakdowns that even further
   down the ranking list on smaller changes, questions would exist as to
   why something is different than the tally sheet which was submitted.
   I've provided detailed explanations for those, and there's no real
   motive for me to tweak the 15th-ranked person by 1 vote (or whatever)
   if the data doesn't support that.  This should address most of the
   reasonable questions.
   And for what it's worth, as I said on the list over the past three
   days, I was already building this and was about 95% done with it before
   the motion for an independent audit even arose.
   -Alicia

   On Thu, Jul 12, 2018 at 12:50 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos
   <[1]caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org> wrote:

   I am doing a brief perusal, this is some fantastic data parsing.  I am
   curious why the write-ins are not noted specifically?
   And as far as Zane Sarwark - minors can be sustaining members with
   their parents signing the pledge on their behalf, at least that is what
   I have been told and seen.  Is Zane a sustaining member? If not, Nick
   needs to get on that.  I do not think dead gorillas though can be
   sustaining members so Harambe would be ineligible.  May he rest in
   peace.
   Will the individual ballots for the other states also be provided
   rather than just TX and CA?
   -Caryn Ann

   On Thu, Jul 12, 2018 at 1:38 AM, Caryn Ann Harlos
   <[2]caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org> wrote:

   Thank you.  I will alert the people who have been asking for them.
   This also answers Sam's questions as to how the sheets could be
   transmitted - it is technologically trivial to scan them.

   On Thu, Jul 12, 2018 at 1:17 AM, Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business
   <[3]lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:

        The At-Large tallies were made under the immense time pressures
     of the
        tail end of the convention, and as in past years, it is not
     surprising
        for a post-convention audit to find errors that were not caught
     onsite.
        For your reading pleasure, you can review the appendices of the
     minutes
        of the previous two conventions for my analyses of those  human
     errors,
        which take place even though people are acting in good faith.
        None of the errors revealed by my audit of this year's At-Large
     race
        change the outcome. The top 5 people on July 3 remain the top 5
        post-audit.
        The largest single discrepancy was that the Colorado delegation
     tally
        sheet under-reported Joe Buchman by 5 votes.  His relative
     ranking did
        not change, though.
        Attached is an Excel workbook with three sheets (or tabs):
          * The first contains the state-by-state breakdown that
     represents the
            tallies exactly as released onsite on July 3.  You'll notice
     that
            some cells are color-coded, and that's an indicator for you
     to find
            the related note at the bottom of that first tab to answer a
            potential question about that number. Each color has its own
            section of notes, with a header that explains the color
     grouping.
            White, green and yellow cells include values that did not
     change in
            the audited results.  The pink cells did change in the
     audited
            results for the reasons noted.
          * The second tab contains the audited results, updated to
     factor in
            the issues in the pink cells.
          * The third tab contains a comparison of the candidate rankings
            reported onsite on July 3 with the rankings for the audited
            results. The variances are minor and do not change the top 5
            finishers.
        Also attached are the delegation tally sheets for comparison with
     the
        details in the spreadsheet.  There are 50 sheets, rather than
     51.  Not
        present is the Wyoming sheet.  I don't know why that blank page
     didn't
        make it back into my collection, but Wyoming did not vote in any
     of the
        elections, and you can see from the attached spreadsheet that at
     the
        time of this vote they had 0 delegates credentialed.
        The Mattson/Scheetz/Hayes cluster of candidates seems to be
     attracting
        the most interest, and the colored cells for that cluster of
     candidates
        involve the CA and TX ballots.  These are the two largest
     delegations,
        and they had the largest tallying task, which just gives more
        opportunities for human error.  Immediately after sending this
     message,
        I'll follow up with another email which has the individual
     ballots from
        CA and TX attached for your tallying pleasure.  The size of the
     scanned
        files warrants two separate emails, else I'd include them here.
     I
        scanned in full color at 300 dpi so you can see them in all their
        glory.
        -Alicia

   --
   --
   In Liberty,
   Caryn Ann Harlos
   Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee Secretary
   - [4]Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org or Secretary at LP.org.
   Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
   A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
   We defend your rights
   And oppose the use of force
   Taxation is theft

   --
   --
   In Liberty,
   Caryn Ann Harlos
   Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee Secretary
   - [5]Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org or Secretary at LP.org.
   Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
   A haiku to the Statement of Principles:
   We defend your rights
   And oppose the use of force
   Taxation is theft

References

   1. mailto:caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
   2. mailto:caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
   3. mailto:lnc-business at hq.lp.org
   4. mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
   5. mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org


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