fbpx
🤔Why is this recount taking so long?
x

🤔Why is this recount taking so long?

Keep on writing
(📸: Giphy)

BY THE BOOK (FAIR)

We’re in the middle of Miami Book Fair’s 35th annual event – and lucky for you – the fair’s programming extends year round. In addition to author events, here’s a sample of some of their other programs and workshops.

FIRST DRAFT

What it is: First Draft is a monthly gathering of thirsty and inspired writers. Attendees receive a writing prompt and a free drink. The thinking is: Have a drink. Write a story. Have another drink. Write a better story.

How to participate: The next First Draft is tomorrow at The Porch at 6 p.m. Keep an eye on their calendar for future First Draft events.

READ TO LEARN

What it is: Their goal is to get more books in the hands of children so they can read them with their families over and over again. They deliver 3,500 free books per week to more than 50 locations throughout Miami-Dade County.

How to participate: You can donate books, host a book drive or adopt a bookshelf.

MIAMI WRITERS INSTITUTE

What it is: An annual creative writing conference that takes place over four days every May. The conference features writing workshops with best-selling authors, inspiring talks, publishing seminars, manuscript consultations and networking events. Workshops are limited to 15 students each.

How to participate: The 2018 workshop has passed, but you can check out the options from this year. The best way to find out more info on the 2019 workshops is to sign up for the Miami Book Fair’s mailing list.

Our picks:

Today: Sob Sisters Unite!

Reclaiming “Sob Sisters,” the old-timey name for female tabloid reporters, this Brooklyn reading series will bring laptops and cocktails together for a night of readings, gossiping about agents and editors, all over a drink or two. This is a celebration of female journalists and non-fiction writers (regardless of experience), but all are welcome.

Info: Free, 7 p.m.

Today on The Porch: Mana Contemporary’s artist collective presents an evening of experimentation and collaboration. Hosted by Queef Latina, bearded drag queen extraordinaire, the showcase work from O, Miami’s Palace out of Paragraphs: Prose Poetry and Flash Fiction and also an experimental sound project by interdisciplinary Puerto Rican artist Rafael Vargas Bernard.

Info: Free, 6 p.m.

Tomorrow: An Evening With April Ryan

A White House correspondent since 1997, April Ryan is the Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief for the American Urban Radio Networks. During her talk, she will discuss her book Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. She’ll take you inside the confusion and chaos to understand how she and other reporters adjusted to the new normal.

Info: $15, 8 p.m.

Saturday: Living the American Dream

Ibtihaj Muhammad will be on hand to talk about her book Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream. The memoir highlights her achievements as the first African-American Muslim to win an Olympic medal for fencing.

Info: Free, 4:30 p.m.

Full details for these and additional events can be found on MiamiBookFair.com. If you head to the fair, be sure to share your favorite moments using #MiamiBookFair2018.

PRODUCED BY THE NEW TROPIC CREATIVE STUDIO WITH MIAMI BOOK FAIR

YOUR RECOUNT QUESTIONS ANSWERED (PT. 1)

Yesterday we asked what questions you had about the recounts going down this week, and we got nearly a dozen of them. So today we’ve got answers to a few of them:

What decides whether we’ll have a hand recount after the machine recount is done on Thursday?

It’s all a numbers game. The recount process got going because the difference between the candidates’ vote totals was 0.5 percent or less in several races (including, of course, the races for governor and U.S. Senate).

The hand recount happens if that difference drops to 0.25 percent or lower. And as it stands right now that would lead to a second round of recounts in the senate race and the race for agriculture commissioner.

Is this a machine count or a human one?

The recount happening this week is a machine count but many elections departments around the state are already preparing for a manual or “human” recount, which will involve checking ballots by hand for undervotes or overvotes. That’s when a person didn’t bubble in a candidate or accidentally bubbled in two votes.

If the vast majority of votes cast were through electronic voting machines, why is a recount necessary and why is it taking so long?

The recount process is determined by state law so there was really no way around it once the races became close enough to require it. As far as the timing, well, that’s also due to state law. Even if counties like Broward and Palm Beach weren’t moving so slow in their counting process, they would still have until tomorrow to report the results of their recount.

Thanks to Ariel Zirulnick, and a few readers who asked to remain anonymous, for these questions. We’re working hard to answer more of your questions so stay tuned and head here for a quick look at how the process began and what’s next. The deadline for counties to report their numbers is tomorrow at 3 p.m. so we’ll see how it all shakes out and keep y’all updated.

And if you haven’t already, you can submit your questions here.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE 305

Stepping down? Broward County has been at the center of recount mania in Florida for issues with illegally counted ballots, slow reporting and machine glitches. Now the woman in charge of the county’s elections department, Brenda Snipes, is considering making her current term as the department’s supervisor her last. She told reporters that in 2020 she may not seek re-election to the post she’s held since 2003. So if she does stick around until then, she will also oversee the 2020 presidential election. 😬(Miami Herald)

On track in the 305. And while other elections departments are dealing with drama and concerns that they may not finish their recounts by tomorrow’s deadline, Miami-Dade has actually been pretty on point. The department has been on track in reporting its voting totals during the recount process, and a lot of credit goes to the scrutiny Miami faced back in 2012 when voters waited in extremely long lines well into the night on Election Day. (Miami Herald)

New kid on the block. If you’ve been pining for the return of the concert venue and bar Bardot, we’ve got good and bad news. Bardot isn’t re-opening but a new cocktail bar called Boombox is taking over the space and it’s opening up tomorrow night. The bar is owned by the same folks who run Beaker & Gray in Wynwood and they plan to still include plenty of live music and DJs spinning nightly. (Time Out Miami)

Missed it by that much. In Palm Beach some folks got a little mixed up in casting their votes for governor. Ballot observers said that they noticed some folks who cast ballots for Reform party candidate Darcy Richardson when they meant to vote for Republican candidate Ron DeSantis. The mix-up appears to be because on their ballots they confused “REF” (for Reform) with “REP” (for Republican). (Palm Beach Post)

Getting ready for rising seas. The risks of sea level rise and strengthening storms continue to be a major focus for local planners and researchers, and they got a chance to brainstorm potential solutions ahead of a three-year study. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has devoted $3 million to the study, which will consider ideas like elevating buildings and roads, and restoring mangroves. (WLRN)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY.

Have a happy hump day, y’all.

– The New Tropic

Archived Newsletters