Nerd-

Actually, with regard to Portland, I'm not sure who Mary Beth Williams is. My newspaper reports that Dory Waxman was the Portland Caucus Convener and, yes, she admits today that she hasn't finished double checking her count of personally filled out forms. And Waxman did say the forms spend Monday and Tuesday "on my kitchen table with my big yellow dog guarding them."

By the way one thing that irritates me about the individual forms is that the participants did not have to sign them or indicate their preference. The only record we had of who voted for whom was our informal tally sheets at the caucus. The absentee forms did have to be signed and a preference stated for a candidate or for "uncommitted." So, other then confirming the total number of attendees and legitimate absentees (eliminating duplicates), there was no double check on who voted for whom. The system could obviously be improved in my opinion without a great deal of pain and angst.

Charley Noble