155K or 136.4K?

David Bernstein in this week's Boston Phoenix analyzes Ohio election returns, speculates on problems that affected Democratic counties and precincts.

According to Bernstein, Ohio election officials tried to do more with less--that is, have more voters come to fewer polling places. Ostensibly this was due to budget considerations. Bernstein crunches the numbers (p.2):

Of Ohio’s 88 counties, 20 suffered a significant reduction — shutting at least 20 percent (or at least 30) of their precincts. Most of those counties have Republicans serving as Board of Elections director, including the four biggest: Cuyahoga, Montgomery, Summit, and Lucas.

Those 20 counties went heavily to Gore in 2000, 53 to 42 percent. The other 68 counties, which underwent little-to-no precinct consolidation, went exactly the opposite way in 2000: 53 to 42 percent to Bush.

Of course, none of this, even if true and rather Floridian, affects the larger problem that Kerry lost the national popular vote by 3.5 million. But Long Live the Electoral College!