Election Day

• Election Night Reporting: 129,945
• Cast Vote Records: 129,945
• Ballot Images: (not available)

Recount

• Election Night Reporting: 129,947
• Cast Vote Records: 129,970
• Ballot Images: 129,947

Aberrations

• Double counted ballots in recount: 23
• Ballots not appearing in recount: >373?
• New ballots appearing in the recount: >378?

General Observations

During the analysis of Forsyth County's voting records, we encountered a unique set of challenges that limited our ability to conduct a comprehensive review. Our examination was confined to the cast vote records from both the original count and the recount, as we did not have access to the original ballot images. This limitation significantly impacted the depth of our analysis, particularly in identifying stray ballots.

One notable issue that emerged was related to a contest on the ballot that did not have any candidates listed. This caused almost every ballot's fingerprint to be classified as a stray, creating a substantial obstacle. Despite this complication, we were able to pinpoint 23 ballots in the recount that had been double counted.

There seems to be over 300 ballots that are not in the recount, but a set of matching 300 ballots are added to the recount. This is potentially due to having the cast vote records incorrectly recording the event type of the ballots. I was able to find mated prints on both counts, but with different ballot types attributed to them. Getting access to the original ballot images will be a great step to resolving this issue.

I have some volunteers who are currently requesting the original ballot images so I can finish this county properly without having to make some assumptions.

Recount Overview

The official count increased by over 319 ballots compared to the original, a rise primarily attributed to new stray ballots included in the recount. However, without access to the original ballot images, our ability to precisely identify and analyze these new stray ballots was hindered. The cast vote records alone did not provide sufficient detail to draw concrete conclusions about them.

The cast vote records only recorded the presidential contest, and was unfortunately little use for the recount analysis.

Duplicated Ballots?

I believe I found a set of duplicated ballots, but unfortunately it is difficult to tell due to their writing instrument that they used to mark them. I think I see someone possibly using a red pen to mark the duplicates, but unfortunately, these marks do not appear on the scanned ballots. This should be a reminder to always use blue or blank ink on ballots.