What we learned from Friday’s recount in Palm Beach County
Bottom Line: Recounts in Palm Beach County will forever be linked for all of the wrong reasons. With Wendy Sartory Link presiding over last week’s elections in PBC due to the latest round of carelessness and lawlessness in the county last November, we got a peak at the difference it can make having the right people in the right places. No there weren’t anywhere near the same number of votes to count or recount in the county last week but no matter, we saw what was possible with even the same equipment used last November.
Aside from the no drama elections reported in a timely way Election Night last week, we had a recount in the highest profile race in the county – the mayoral race in West Palm Beach. On Friday the recount took place, confirming the Election Night results, that Keith James is the new mayor, in just over an hour. In one hour and eighteen minutes, 11,405 ballots were recounted. How does that compare to the speed with which recounts occurred last November? Sparing you’re the detail of the votes/math which I’ve calculated for you, here’s how long it would take with the current team and same equipment to have recounted last November’s elections:
- Scott vs Nelson Senate race: 39.5 hours
- DeSantis vs Gillum Governor race: 39.25 hours
- Caldwell vs Fried Agriculture race: 38.5 hours
That’s a total of not quite five days if you’re keeping score. When did PBC finish the recounts? December 26th. Any questions? Yes, the equipment is antiquated, and Wendy’s first step was to attain the funds needed for new equipment, but that’s clearly just a small part of the story.