Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You refuse the recount.
One of the candidates files a lawsuit requesting that your decision be disregarded and that the ballots be recounted. Unfortunately, the judge agrees with the candidate and rules that a recount should be conducted.
So, you order the recount, asking that every ballot in the state be recounted. The second candidate, who is leading in the votes, is not happy with that decision. He files another lawsuit requesting that the count be stopped. A judge hears his arguments but refuses to overturn the previous judgment.
So the recount goes on, and when it is finally finished, the numbers are essentially the same. That, of course, upsets the losing candidate. He files yet another lawsuit asking that the recount be performed one more time, by hand. The judge hearing the case refuses it, but the damage has already been done.
Voters are not happy with the outcome of the election and feel they have been subjected to an unfair amount of stress.
It's not always possible to make the right decision. And sometimes the right decision still seems wrong. That's one of the unfortunate facts of dealing in the political arena, and you knew that when you entered the job.
"There are some very tough decisions to be faced in this job," says Brook Thompson. He is a state coordinator of elections. "Most of them are dealing with people's rights to vote, which is a very delicate issue. You do the best you can do."