*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** I couldn't get the "2000" site to open, but this one has various links <http://www.voteswap.com/>. Interesting stuff. Steven Clift Democracies Online Newswire From: http://www.kgw.com/kgwnews/top_story.html?StoryID=8269 Nader Traders Use Internet to Swap Votes October 30, 2000, 05:30 PM Charlie Levenson of Portland is a huge Ralph Nader fan. And he's one of the first people in the United States to swap his Nader vote and agree to vote for Al Gore instead. "I'm a Nader trader, a vote swapper," said Levenson. "This was a really tough election, especially when people I really respect starting showing up in Oregon saying Nader supporters absolutely couldn't vote for Nader." Thanks to voteswap2000.com, Levenson feels everything will work out. The web site links Levenson with a Gore supporter in Texas, who agrees to vote for Nader, if Levenson votes for Gore. Here's the theory: Texas Governor George W. Bush will easily win his home state, so when a Texas voter casts his ballot for Gore instead of Nader, it doesn't really affect the outcome. Shifting Nader votes to Texas won't hurt Gore -- but shifting Gore votes to Oregon -- will help the Democrat. "I vote for Gore," Levenson said. "And somebody else votes my conscience for me." The web site was created out of concern that Nader supporters might take votes away from Gore and give Bush a victory in Oregon. Nader supporters generally are more likely to align themselves with Gore than Bush. The result of the swapping could push Gore over the top in Oregon, a critical state in the election. Bush would still win Texas, and Nader supporters would get what they want. The vote is critical for Nader supporters because if the third-party candidate gets five percent of the popular vote nationally, his party qualifies for federal funds in 2004. Still, the Nader campaign is against the web sites. "This is just a scam by people who want to support Gore and they're coming up with this whole idea that you're gonna trade votes," said Nader campaign manager Dave Stewart. "But even in the worst case scenario, you're trading only a few votes." - end clip - *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
