Doing my small part for democracy, serving as one of the legal observers for the recount in Durham

Zero discrepancies since 10am

#BullCity 🐃đŸ’Ș
Machines are manned in bipartisan pairs, feeding one ballot at a time

Before each machine is used, it's unlocked, a BOE person comes by with a flashlight, and all 3 inspect each part of the machine to make sure there are no hidden ballots and the initial count is zero
After the recounting is done, all three do another flashlight inspection to make sure no ballots got stuck. Then the machine is padlocked shut, taken to a storage room, and the next machine brought out
Anything that can't be machine-read – like if someone put an "X" in the bubble instead of filling it in – goes to those center bins labeled "Recount Station"

Haven't seen any of those yet

If they end up existing, 2 Ds + 2 Rs will manually inspect to decide what voter intended
Once all the ballots are recounted, they're put into a special bin box and put onto a special ballot transfer cart, then carted into the BOE meeting room

The totals get announced and compared to the canvass results. Board members can also inspect each ballot if they want
After that's all done, the ballot box on the ballot cart (I'm inclined to call it a "ballot pallet" for the rhyme even though technically it's not a pallet) gets taken to the cage in the back where it's checked in and stored, and a new box checked out
It's all very thorough, with a detailed chain of custody

It's also quite accurate, hence the currently-0.0% discrepancy rate

No coup'ing going on here
Short answer is I don't know for certain, but that's almost definitely right – the machines are numbered with what I recognize as our precinct #'s, so my assumption is they're having each precinct's ballots read on that precinct's machines (so no reprogramming) https://twitter.com/californiasalvo/status/1329848018212970496
Durham County BOE has a Zoom feed going here as well, in case y'all want to watch the same thing I'm watching 😂 https://twitter.com/bregmanps/status/1329847958410588160
I've been messing with the wire strip over the nose until the mask is "tented" just right – once it is, the fog isn't a problem

Hadn't done that when the selfie was taken though https://twitter.com/divet_fxr_lad/status/1329850772683681792
"Ballot Transfer Cart 2" would sound so much more awesome if it were "Ballot Pallet 2"
Sadly no. I'm to be seen, not heard https://twitter.com/vimrich/status/1329850371318145026
Undoubtedly true https://twitter.com/rallysim/status/1329849616066629636
They're trying to re-seal a ballot box, and the packing tape has gotten stuck onto itself and no one seems to be able to get it unstuck

This is the most action I've seen all day
Someone brought a second tape dispenser, while someone else brought a pair of scissors to deal with the first tape dispenser

ToTaL cHaOs!

(It's not chaos)
Success! 🎉🎉

They went through like 2 feet of tape in the process, but the tape dispenser is working again 😂

Those wily Venezuelans! You never know what coup trickery they'll try next!
They also have a paper jogger and I want one for the office
If anyone is bored and wants to watch the Durham County BOE, the live feed is linked here:

https://www.dconc.gov/Home/Components/News/News/8010/31
It's a machine that rapidly vibrates a stack of papers until they're perfectly aligned https://twitter.com/cathi_bea/status/1329856777265922048
I got to see one when I worked at the State Bar, they'd use it to align the envelopes before running them through the stamp machine

I have absolutely no use for one but I still think it's one of the coolest devices in an office 😂 https://twitter.com/ryanpaige/status/1329857880435068933
Idk about the Zoom feed. In person, both county political parties and both candidates (only 1 race being recounted) have physical observers here https://twitter.com/youngex20/status/1329858705186283521
IT ME https://twitter.com/megshensley/status/1329858400604315657
For those watching the livestream, they're just now locking up the 2nd machine from the front

You'll get to see when they bring a new one out and inspect it shortly
YOU DON'T KNOW ME MIKE đŸ˜€ https://twitter.com/questauthority/status/1329862744699449347
Looks like folks are taking a lunch break

THOSE CUNNING VENEZUELANS BOUGHT PIZZA! *BRIBING* THE RECOUNT WORKERS WITH *FOOD*!!1 ::shakes fist::
Sadly, just based on the math, it seems like Newby will win. He's currently up by 403 votes (out of 5,391,552 votes cast)

But it's close enough an error in really any county could change the outcome https://twitter.com/youngex20/status/1329865376679780353
Keep it up and I'm gonna add both of you to the Wiffle Bat List https://twitter.com/jurisdudence/status/1329865749423337483
I approve of Vote Boat as well https://twitter.com/radiophotog/status/1329866341570973696
The gentleman in the suit y'all just saw on the livestream is our Elections Director, Derek Bowens ( @dcovotes) – he's posted some pics of what's going on too
Break over, folks are getting back to business
In the spot where I'm sitting, you're basically looking for anything abnormal. *Not* inspecting machines before and after counting, ballots being torn or mangled or etc, an unusual number being "center binned" (those middle tables for ballots the machine can't read)

1/ https://twitter.com/mrmcwalrus/status/1329869141189271560
Then in the inner room you'd be listening for discrepancies between the certified post-canvass vote totals and the recount vote totals, and an explanation for any discrepancies more than 0

2/2
@MrMcWalrus
I know y'all have heard the phrase "as boring as watching paint dry"

This is comparable 😂

Thankful to live in a county with competent election administrators
Probably https://twitter.com/sir_matt68/status/1329875134430076929
The high-speed tabulator on the right-hand side of the livestream feed is đŸ”„đŸ”„

Runs what looks like 50 ballots at a time, auto-sorting ones counted properly the first time and ones that need to be re-checked
The table in front of the high-speed tabulator is for the 4-person hand-to-eye recount folks, for ballots that aren't machine-readable that end up center-binned

An R and a D determine the voter's intent, a different R and D next to them confirm and tally

They've had 0 so far
No videos allowed (not needed anyway b/c of the Zoom feed), but otherwise they leave us alone as long as we leave them alone https://twitter.com/anvilfisher/status/1329876492822704129
https://twitter.com/lindseypaigeb/status/1329875827949973508
Alright y'all my shift is done

Thus concludes my livetweet of this tiny sliver of democracy democracy-ing
Also shout-out to the healthcare workers who have to wear N95s all day, y'all the real MVPs
Literal LOL -- but also I definitely would https://twitter.com/wraithe/status/1329911866836049928
You refuted a tweet about the GOP by referencing "everybody who has run for elective office"?

The quantitative difference between those two datasets is rather large https://twitter.com/toefelein/status/1329914613132120070
There's no umbrage, it was a genuine question

I have no doubt at all that the elected Trump apologists know exactly what they're doing, and they should be pelted with rotten eggs for it

I took the original tweet as a reference to the GOP base, most of whom don't run for office https://twitter.com/TOefelein/status/1329981177546018818
YES!

To be totally honest it wasn't something I'd considered before agreeing to be an observer https://twitter.com/jennifermascia/status/1329981845518372864
Neither. I was there as an observer for a specific candidate (Cheri Beasley, the D incumbent Chief Justice) – there were separate observers there for the D and R parties https://twitter.com/thebenbram/status/1329979740866764801
Recount won't be done across all 100 counties for a few more days, but as of now she's behind by 409 votes out of ~5.4M (0.0076%) https://twitter.com/firthermor/status/1330001265753919490
It's a f*cking travesty https://twitter.com/codnacho/status/1330003178440552448
Neither, this was in North Carolina. It's a recount for our Chief Justice race https://twitter.com/morgynlin/status/1330200042821607425
You can follow @greg_doucette.
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