How to count, and how not to

In the Quebec provincial election, held less than one month ago, 3,295,914 voters cast ballots in 21,315 polling divisions, grouped into 2,942 secteurs de vote, spread across 125 provincial ridings, for independent candidates and those nominated by nine registered political parties.

The poll-by-poll results have already been posted to the internets — in an easy-to-use and -manipulate Excel spreadsheet format, as well.

In the October 2007 Newfoundland and Labrador provincial election, including the deferred election in Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans, a total of 209,142 ballots went into the boxes. That's about the equivalent of eight electoral districts' worth of Quebec provincial vote.

So there is probably some reason why it takes so long — nine months, in fact; and past the statutory deadline — for Elections Newfoundland and Labrador to publish (and in PDF) the poll-by-poll results of the provincial elections it runs.

Yes, there probably is a reason.

Just not a very good one.