If you're interested, please be sure to read the entire piece at VR's
website, by clicking on the link below.
MCM
<http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0811/S00217.htm>http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0811/S00217.htm
Was Prop 8 Fixed by Religious Zealots?
Monday, 17 November 2008, 9:54 am
Column: Mark Crispin Miller
Was California's Anti Gay Proposition Fixed by Religious Zealots?
<http://markcrispinmiller.com/>Mark Crispin Miller
Early evening, Nov. 4, exit poll showing Prop 8 going down to defeat.
Later in that evening, after adding 72 respondents the exit poll
figures switched to show a preference for "Yes."
(<http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/Prop8ExitPoll-1.html>Screen
shot)
Well, well, well. First we find out, happily, that We the People may
not be so fiercely racist after all, as Election '08 has debunked the
(feeble) theory of "the Bradley effect."
And now it turns out that Americans--at least those in gay-friendly
California -- may not really been as hostile to gay marriage as the
outcome of that state's election has apparently suggested.
As we think about the possibility that Prop 8 was not really passed
by California's voters, let's note something that the press, and
others, won't discuss: i.e., that the entire apparatus of
computerized voting in this country--the e-voting machines and
op-scans and central tabulators, etc.--is largely owned by members of
the Christianist far right.
Diebold and ES&S were both begun by Bob and Todd Urosevich, two
ardent Oklahoma theocrats, while Triad, which makes the central vote
tabulators used in Ohio in 2004, is owned by the Rapp family.
SmartTech, the company that helped Bush/Cheney steal that state, is
owned by evangelical Jeff Averbeck; and his associate Mike Connell,
owner of GovTech Solutions, which also helped to steal Ohio, among
other races, was motivated to such work by his desire "to save the
babies," according to Stephen Spoonamore.
<http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/2008/11/exit_poll_showed_californias_p.html>Why
are there so many Christianists among the owners of those companies?
Because the rigging of elections is the only way that that fringe
movement ever could impose its theocratic program on the rest of us.
As Paul Weyrich used to say out loud, the Christianists despise
democracy. After all, that system, if allowed to stand, would put the
sinful secular majority in charge--and that can't be allowed.
And so, whether or not it turns out that Prop 8 was rigged to pass,
we need to take a good hard look at those machines, and at the
companies that own them--and keep them out of our elections.
Meanwhile, let's all stop assuming that last week's outcome was
legitimate, and look closely at the evidence around Prop 8.
Mark Crispin Miller
***********************
Election Irregularities Surfacing Re: California's Proposition 8!
Exit Poll Shows DEFEAT of Same-Sex Marriage Ban!
Volunteers Needed NOW to Monitor Post-Election Procedures
Link Below to Flyer: Please Print and Circulate at Tomorrow's
<http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/>Protests!
The Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender (GLBT) Community and its
supporters nationwide are mourning and organizing in the wake of last
week's announced 52-48% passage of Proposition 8, which eliminates
the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California.
But an accurate count of the votes may not yet have occurred,
according to early indications.
The integrity of an election takes time to investigate, and it's far
too early to draw conclusions. However, consider the following:
Around the world, exit polls are used to determine the need for
investigation of elections. In the U.S., the National Exit Poll (NEP,
also known as Edison/Mitofsky) now adjusts results to match vote
counts before issuing its final polling numbers.
<http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/>Election Defense Alliance
downloaded NEP numbers from the internet on election night; however,
before poll results were changed to match the official vote count.
This is the exit poll from early in the evening of election night.
There were 2,168 respondents, and they break down as follows (a "yes"
vote is a vote against same-sex marriage):
This is the exit poll from later in the evening. There were 2,240
respondents -- 72 more respondents than in the earlier poll -- and
they break down in a very different way:
<http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/Prop8ExitPoll-1.html>Screen
Capture 1 (early exit)
<http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/11-14-200812-53-09%20PM.html>Screen
Capture 2 (later exit)
This discrepancy should be ringing alarm bells. Something doesn't add up.
Because exit polls adjusted to match election results are of limited
usefulness, this year <http://www.electionintegrity.org/>independent
exit polls were conducted in several states by a group including Ken
Warren of the Warren Poll, Jonathan Simon of Election Defense
Alliance, and Steve Freeman of Election Integrity. This team is still
analyzing results of their exit polls, but Simon told Velvet
Revolution that their California exit polls, some of which were
conducted by Judy Alter and
<http://www.protectcaliforniaballots.org/>Protect California Ballots,
tend to corroborate the findings of the above exit poll that show a
defeat of Prop. 8.
What is proven by discrepancies between exit poll results and
official vote counts? That an investigation must be conducted to
determine whether the vote count is accurate. Article continues at
<http://www.velvetrevolution.us/electionstrikeforce/2008/11/exit_poll_showed_californias_p.html>link.
Religion and politics have a history in California.
<http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/cast/character/brother_justin.shtml>Image
END
*****************
Peace
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