A while back, we pointed to Pew research which said that 25% of the electorate identifies as Republican while 32% is Dem. But now Rasmussen is saying that the real numbers are 39 R, 33 D. Gallup has it is 36 R, 35 D. That gap, says Jon Podhoretz, will make Romney the winner.
And the Republicans are saying that their internal polls put Romney ahead in Ohio and New Hampshire, in defiance of the numbers offered by everyone else.
I don't buy this. Not for a second. Looks to me as though the ground is being prepared for vote-rigging.
Update: David Frum of CNN says that the way we run our elections is a disgrace. Indeed so. But Frum's diagnosis and solution are exactly wrong. He's worried about those mythical impersonators at the polling place. Frum doesn't worry about our all-too-riggable machines -- in fact, he says
The ballot uncertainty that convulsed the nation after Florida's vote in 2000 could not happen in Mexico or Brazil.
Brazil has nationwide electronic voting, producing instantaneous, uncontested results.
Like many old cities, St. Louis has not invested in modern voting equipment. Voting delays are notorious ...
Basically, Frum wants to get rid of paper trails and "modernize" the vote around the country. (I'm sure he also favors the practice of "conforming" the exit polls to fit the so-called actuals. Or maybe he would prefer to get rid of exit polling altogether?)
Cannonfire readers know better than to trust our vote to hackable machinery. Anyone who, like Frum, speaks in favor of a "no paper trail" system must be damned forevermore as a knowing participant in the conspiracy to end true democracy in this country.
For the latest evidence of rigged election machinery in the U.S., check out the video above. From the YouTube description:
I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was
being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more
carefully, and still got Romney. Being a software developer, I
immediately went into troubleshoot mode. I first thought the calibration
was off and tried selecting Jill Stein to actually highlight Obama.
Nope. Jill Stein was selected just fine. Next I deselected her and
started at the top of Romney's name and started tapping very closely
together to find the 'active areas'. From the top of Romney's button
down to the bottom of the black checkbox beside Obama's name was all
active for Romney. From the bottom of that same checkbox to the bottom
of the Obama button (basically a small white sliver) is what let me
choose Obama. Stein's button was fine. All other buttons worked fine.
I
asked the voters on either side of me if they had any problems and they
reported they did not. I then called over a volunteer to have a look at
it. She him hawed for a bit then calmly said "It's nothing to worry
about, everything will be OK." and went back to what she was doing. I
then recorded this video.
It's only vote rigging if Democrats win. A republican victory is the "Will of the People".
posted by Mr. Mike : 12:32 PM
How can this be a matter of opinion, unless the argument is that self-identification with a party is different from registration as a member of a party?
As to New Hampshire, when I heard that Dixville Notch split evenly between Obama and Romney, I jumped to the conclusion that Romney is toast. My recollection is that Dixville Notch normally goes heavily Republican, like 20 percent tops for the Democrat. Maybe my memory is faulty, but I would like to enjoy my little bubble for the moment if it is.
posted by CambridgeKnitter : 12:39 PM
My town only uses paper ballots. Back in 2004 or so, I had to use a touch screen voting machine. It seemed to work, but there was no paper trail. It seems the town did the sensible thing for the voters and switched back to paper only (though the ballots are scanned by a machine).
posted by Gus : 3:19 PM
Election fraud tends to produce recognizable statistical signatures in precinct turnout and vote totals (at least when the level of fraud is substantial).
