Election officials have re-scanned hundreds of thousands of ballots as they recount the votes on Ballot Measure 2, an attempt to repeal ranked choice voting and open primaries in Alaska. They’re also taking a closer look at some ballots where the voter’s choice isn’t quite clear.
Voters don’t always carefully fill in the ovals next to “Yes” and “No.” Sometimes, people leave only a checkmark or X, or sometimes they cross out one choice and fill in the bubble next to another.
During the recount, images of those ambiguous ballots are sent to the so-called “adjudication room” next to the secure area where Division of Elections employees rescan ballots. There, observers watch as Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher decides how they should be counted. (The rules are laid out in state law.)
Ambiguous ballots fall into four categories:
- Yes, where the voter clearly intended to choose “Yes”
- No, where the voter meant to select “No”
- An “undervote,” where the voter didn’t pick a clear choice
- An “overvote,” where the voter picked too many (i.e., both Yes and No)
We picked 10 ballots that illustrate the process. They are not representative of the overall universe of ballots — we skipped most of the undervotes, which are the vast majority. For this quiz, we just picked the ambiguous ballots that we found the most interesting. They illustrate the judgment calls needed to discern voters’ intent.
Can you figure out how to count these ballots? Give it a try below.
(One note: The scans shown below do not show the oval on the ballot — only the printed text and the voter’s penmarks.)
Is this a yes, no, undervote or overvote?
