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Today's Poll!Voter turnout miscalculation found
No impact on vote totals
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Due to a calculation error, the voter turnout percentage in Tuesday’s election increased for Cole County. By erasing an error in listing the total number of registered voters, which did not impact vote totals, the calculation of the county’s voter turnout rose to 70 percent, up from the nearly 65 percent reported on Tuesday night.
County Clerk Marvin Register said Friday they incorrectly added the number of absentee voters to the total number of registered voters — counting the absentee voters twice. That jumped the total number of registered voters from 53,000 to 57,000.
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Comments
Paroquet 7 months, 1 week ago
@NT
Excuse me, please. Who is "they" (para. 2, sent. 1.)
Some person, or function of a person on the public dole, messed up. Are we transparent, or not?
online_editor 7 months, 1 week ago
The county clerk and his staff. (Amended from my saying just the staff.)
Paroquet 7 months, 1 week ago
Have your staff name them in such articles then. It's public info, and the NT's biz is dependent on the public at large. Also, your journalists got their degrees to do what? Put the truth out there, or obfuscate?
I enjoy good, in depth, and accurate reporting. Is the NT aspiring, or actively avoiding for political convenience?
bluesfan13 7 months, 1 week ago
I'm confused by what you're wanting... According to the arcitle, Marvin Register took blame for his staff, saying his office ("they") miscalculated. He's the responsible party, and that's what the article states. Do you want Marvin to throw one of his employees under the bus? He's the boss, he took blame. End of story.
online_editor 7 months, 1 week ago
Yes, it does mean "his office." It's not a reference to some other unnamed, behind-the-scenes "they." Register made the miscalculation, underestimating the voter turnout, and then announced the corrected figure. The problem is our semantics, not a lack of transparency. Our usage of "they," although not uncommon, is colloquial, and therefore is less precise than more formal wording, which can lead to confusion. Here's a bigger problem: The passive voice in the first paragraph contributes greatly to the lack of clarity. That's mostly my fault because I condensed the reporter's original writing, hoping to squeeze as much information into this news brief as possible, but instead I mangled any resemblance to the subject of a sentence in the first paragraph to the point of non-existence. Sorry for the confusion.
JCLifer 7 months, 1 week ago
Bet they are human beings who occasionally make mistakes. Surprised this is an issue to be commented upon. It is nothing compared to the huge mistake that is in the White House for four more years.
connor 7 months, 1 week ago
It's nothing compared to Pennsylvania counties with 108% turn out either. No explanation of course.Or the Ohio voters who were told they already voted.
RobHunterJohnson 7 months, 1 week ago
Conner, I watched a voting machine on the internet, that everytime you touched the screen for OBAMA, it highlighted Romney? It is amazing to me, that Tagg Romney owned a voting machine co, (had all the machines in Ohio) and all the Romoneys are invested in it? Why do you think Karl Rove could not believe Romney had lost Ohio? Florida needs to figure out how to vote, or they need to remove them from the Voting Process of this country! All they have to do is remove the electorial votes from the grand total! Rob
Paroquet 7 months, 1 week ago
Humans? I worked with some of those once. Most of them made mistakes on purpose. Then, the head-office changed heads and 'poof' gone.
Enjoy the mistake, Lifer. Tell me, though, did the Bush taste better?
Romney didn't worry me much. Ryan scared me. I liked McCain, but couldn't abide Palin. Seems some party needs to think harder about its invitees.
I want to be made to think hard before casting my vote.
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