Exit polls. OT warning OT

[Sarah Fox]

Hi Thump,

> Gee. If the exit polls show Kerry ahead, why are the
> vote tallies giving Bush a  veritable landslide?

Very simple.  At one time the election was decided by the voters.  In 2000,
the election was decided for the first time not by the voters, but by the
attorneys and partisan judges.  Now, in 2004, the election is being decided
not by the voters, but by the attorneys, judges, and (most importantly) the
computer hackers.

Of course there's fraud even without the touch-screen, paperless voting.  A
friend and I were certain we would be out of town (in Ohio, where we're
registered) on election day, so we opted for absentee ballots.  The ballots
were pretty suspicious.  Nader was on both ballots, even though he had been
disqualified in Ohio.  There was a white insert in my materials, placed very
inconspicuously between the back pages of the booklet, explaining that Nader
was no longer a valid candidate and that votes for Nader would not be
counted.  Of course I would have seen the insert only AFTER having punched
Nader's chad (if he were my preferred candidate), and so my ballot would be
invalidated if I were to punch out any other chad.  In contrast, my friend's
absentee ballot information included a salmon-colored notice inserted
carefully between the pages towards the front of the booklet, where the
presidential candidates were listed, so it would be impossible not to see it
before mistakingly punching Nader's chad.  Why were her materials assembled
with clarity and user friendliness in mind, and why were mine assembled to
be unclear, even deceptive?  My part of town is heavily Democrat.  Hers is
heavily Republican.  Go figure...

Along the same lines, we had people standing in long lines in the rain in
Columbus for up to FIVE HOURS, for lack of voting machines and poll workers.
We're talking about elderly people who could not stand for FIVE HOURS, as
well as mothers with little children at their sides who had to get their
little ones fed and put to bed.  A large proportion of these people just
gave up and left, without having voted.  There has been a Federal ruling
that these people must be provided paper ballots under these extraordinary
circumstances, but the attorneys are having a hard time interpreting this
ruling -- so no paper ballots have been issued.  These long lines apparently
occurred ONLY in the poorer parts of town where the turnout would have been
more heavily Democratic.  In the more affluent areas with a more solid
Republican stronghold, voters were in an out in a jiffy -- no more than 10
min.  Apparently nobody has gotten the bright idea that voting machines from
the more affluent neighborhoods (whose polling locations closed long ago)
could be relocated to the less affluent areas to move the voters along.
After all, why would the Republican controlled board of elections want to do
a single thing to help a Democrat to vote?

So, it would appear that every trick in the book, as well as some newly
invented tricks, are being used by the Republican-controlled board of
elections to sway the vote for Mr. Bush.  All this election trickery is
selectively directed towards Democratic areas, not Republican areas, at
least in Central Ohio.

The most recent Gallup polling put the Ohio vote at 50% Kerry to 46% Bush
among likely voters, with a 3% margin of error, meaning that the chances of
Bush winning the state were less than 5%.  In my estimation, the magnitude
of the walk-out problem could easily have shifted the outcome from the
Gallup estimates to what we're seeing now (51% Bush, 47% Kerry).  So if Bush
wins Ohio, you now know why.  The only difference, now, between Ohio and
Florida is that Ohio weather sucks, and the brand of election fraud utilized
in Ohio exploits that fact.

But perhaps Kerry can take the state anyway, thanks to those people with the
opportunities, health, stubbornness, and raw fortitude to stand in line for
FIVE HOURS to cast their vote.  I suspect the vote will be coming in a bit
late from the poor folks.  Time will tell whether they were more determined
to vote than the board of elections was determined to quash their vote.

Power to the people!  (... I hope)

Peace,
Sarah