The problem with "hand count ballots" is that by the time we're done it'll be time for the next election! There's over 300 million Americans, roughly 175 million are registered voters and only a fraction of them actually vote. Millions of ballots. Thousands of ballot counters. Would take years.
The states have done this before and yes - it’s far less efficient. With the right organization, I think it could be done.
It CAN be done, but it would take time. Probably longer than us getting to Inauguration Day.
No, I think it would be ok. With a panel of people working each state. You are right it would take much longer but I don’t think it would be quite that long. 😉