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Politics : John Kerry for President? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JakeStraw who wrote (2867)	10/22/2004 3:31:43 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 3515

Election rides on the cel phone vote Jimmy Breslin October 21, 2004 On Sept. 15, there were 168,900,019 cell phones in America, according to the cell phone institute in Washington. Not one phone user was called by the political pollsters reporting with such marvelous accuracy on the Bush-Kerry race. A month later, on yesterday afternoon, there now were 170,475,160 cell phones in America, according to the cell phone institute. In one month, 1,575,000 new cell phones have been bought. Not one cell phone has been called during the presidential campaign. This is because there is no method for polling cell phones. Nobody has their numbers. Nor do they know who the users are, where they live and what they do. You have 170 million phones and you talk to none of them and then try to say you know what the public is thinking. A month ago, pollster John Zogby said he had discontinued telephone polls because cell phones had made any and all results meaningless. Now if you pay attention to polls, you are insane. Yesterday, the polls showed a Bush surge. It never happened because they were basing it on thin air. There also were figures showing Kerry winning states like Ohio in the Midwest. They came up with the percentages without calling one cell phone of the millions and millions of them in the area. I believe nothing. Everybody maintains that the two candidates are in a statistical dead heat. Nobody knows that. With a huge number of new registered voters, overwhelmingly of color, and young, and with 40 million using cell phones, the only thing going on in this election is how many times George Bush goes under before he drowns on Election Day. As he should. He is the worst president we have had, maybe ever.

To: JakeStraw who wrote (2867)	10/22/2004 5:50:27 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3515

Florida fields widespread voter complaints State investigates allegations of fraud in registration Friday, October 22, 2004 Posted: 1:00 PM EDT (1700 GMT) (CNN) -- With 11 days to go before the November 2 presidential election, officials in the battleground state of Florida are looking into complaints of widespread voter fraud, the state's Department of Law Enforcement said. Over the last several weeks, the department has received numerous complaints from elections supervisors, the secretary of state's office and citizens alleging "sometimes organized efforts" to commit fraud in voter registrations, party affiliation forms and absentee ballots, the department said in a statement. Investigations are under way throughout the state. (Showdown state Florida) Some people who thought they were signing petitions apparently "later found out that their signatures or possible forged signatures were used to complete a fraudulent voter registration," the department said. (Special Report: America Votes 2004) There were also reports of problems involving workers hired to obtain legitimate voter registrations. Some allegedly "filled in the information on the registration forms that should have been completed by the registrants," and in several cases workers "appear to have signed multiple voter registrations themselves using information obtained during the registration drive," the department said. "In many of the situations complained about, the workers were being paid on the basis of each registration form submitted." Most cases of voter fraud are third-degree felonies in Florida, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each charge, the department said. Florida became the central battleground of the 2000 presidential race after Election Day, when the tally proved extremely close and questions were raised about voter intimidation, people being refused the right to vote and problems with the state's electoral process. After weeks of legal battles, the U.S. Supreme Court determined the matter. State officials have vowed to avoid a repeat of such problems. Florida -- where the governor is President Bush's brother Jeb -- is one of the most hotly contested states in this year's election. President Bush and Sen. John Kerry have teams of lawyers in the state. The Department of Law Enforcement said regional task forces are addressing voter safety issues and looking into groups that may be involved in voter fraud. The task forces communicate directly with local law enforcement, state attorney's offices, the FBI and elections supervisors, the department's statement said. "While we conduct this investigation, we are mindful that our No. 1 priority will be to protect the rights of those individuals that are eligible to vote and allow them the opportunity to do so," department Commissioner Guy Tunnell said in a written statement. "Our agents will do nothing that will impede or hinder that process." The department encouraged voters to check with local elections supervisors to ensure their registration information is accurate and report any irregularities or suspected fraud.