The historic recount of three City Council elections began here Monday, as a medley of people packed a city conference room to commence the review of more than 170,000 ballots. The three DS-850 ballot-counting machines — the use of which three of the six candidates involved in the recount objected — lined the front of the room, as sheriff’s deputies managed traffic across the room. Circuit Court Clerk Tina Sinnen described the process — an unprecedented one that has been crafted in the public eye over the last several weeks — as “organized chaos,” illustrating the interlocking puzzle of people, process, and access required to administer the state’s first recount of multiple elections.
“Never been done in the history of the Commonwealth,” Sinnen said when describing the recount process election officials have constructed. “We don’t want to give up accuracy for quickness — because we don’t want to do this again.”
Sinnen is the official charged with the overall security of the process, as well as the ballots themselves, which are stored in the circuit court vault when not being recounted.
Full Article: Court clerk: Virginia Beach recount process begins in ‘organized chaos’ | Southside Daily.