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When am I ever gonna use this?
Posted:
Nov 4, 2012 2:45 PM
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Another example of why it's important to learn math.
Suppose you're a poll worker in Ohio (sort of an important state for
this election). The polling place where you're assigned serves two
different precincts, so each voter has to be given a ballot for the
correct precinct depending on where the voter lives. (If the wrong
ballot is used, the voter's ballot gets invalidated.)
For this polling location, the dividing line for the two precincts
runs down the middle of Maple Street: odd street numbers vote in
precinct A, even street numbers in precinct B. So when a voter living
on Maple Street comes in and asks for a ballot, YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO
DETERMINE WHETHER THEIR STREET ADDRESS IS ODD OR EVEN:
(from http://electionlawblog.org/?p=29505 )
> Does the Equal Protection Clause or Due Process clause of the U.S.
Constitution require
> that the Board, having done so, also count other ballots cast by
voters in the wrong
> precinct but at the correct location? The district court said yes.
>
> The problem of poll worker error is one which has not gotten enough
attention and
> needs to get more attention. This excerpt from the opinion
poignantly illustrates the issue:
>
> In at least one instance, a poll worker appeared to be unable
to distinguish between
> even and odd numbers. When asked whether the house number 798
was even
> or odd, the poll worker responded:
>
> A. Odd.
> Q. And why do you think that?s odd? I?m sorry. Why do you
think her address is an odd address?
> A. Because it begins with an odd number.
> Q. It starts with an odd number?
> A. Yes. Nine is an odd number. Eight?s even.
> . . .
> Q. . . . So on Election Day, if somebody came in with an
address 798 and you had two
> ranges to choose from, you would choose the odd for
them?
> A. Yes.
> Q. Okay. And is that how you did it for all the ballots that
you looked up on Election Day?
> A. To determine if they were even ? yes.
> Q. To determine if they were even or odd, you looked at the
first digit of the address?
> A. No. I looked at the whole address.
> Q. And you chose however many ? if there were more odds than
even numbers, it
> would be an odd address?
> A. Yes.
Evan Romer
Susquehanna Valley HS
Conklin NY
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