Does this bother anybody else??

[Nordic]

I got this e-mail the other day from Anne Lewis of the DSCC. It really raised a red flag with me, which is why I finally signed on DU, so I could post it.

It regards the Senate primary in Colorado. Here it is:


"On Friday, former Congressman Bob Schaffer was running ahead of Pete Coors 46-45 among "definite" voters. On Tuesday, Schaffer lost to Coors in a 61-39 landside. What explains the dramatic turn around in the race in the last 72 hours? Well it certainly isn't because of Coors exceptional campaign skills. Coors stumbled on the campaign trail and didn't run a tight race, but Schaffer did not have the money at the end to take advantage of Coors as an inexperienced candidate. I believe that Schaffer's lack of money to run a GOTV program is the answer to the landside victory. "


Well I'm glad that she "believes" this, but I'd sure like to find out some facts as to why an extremely wealthy corporate guy could suddenly come from behind to win an election in a "landslide".

It seems very suspicious to me and I hadn't seen anything on DU about it. I was wondering if anyone had any more information about this.

Anybody know how much electronic voting was used in Colorado?

Thanks

[wryter2000]

1. Can't help you

But welcome to DU :hi:

[AmerDem]

2. hmmmm, wish I knew

keep this kicked until we get an answer!

[diddlysquat]

3. kick n/t

[tom_paine]

4. Is Colorado a BBV State?

Of course, in Imperial Amerika, simple, stupid "name recognition" could be the answer.

Is Colorado a BBV State?

[John Q. Citizen]

5. I don't know about

voting equipment in CO. but a good gotv operation is important to win any campaign.

I have also never seen a "definite voter" category in polls.

[passthecorn]

9. I voted in Colorado in 2000

I don't know if this is BBV, but we voted like a standardized test. Fill in the oval with the pen and turn the paper in.

[Comicstripper]

6. Um.....

well, not only "definite voters" actually end up voting. thousands of others vote in the primary who were'nt "definite voters," but voted anyway. that poll was really stupid.

[Irishladdie]

7. In 2000 there were problems in Colorado..

Check it out....

http://thoughtcrimes.org/bbv/bbv_appendix-a.pdf

[Hooper]

8. Polls

Perhaps the situation is more of a commentary on the efficacy of polls. Polls are very easy to spin, and very easy to set. All polls should be taken with a very large grain of salt. Even if the polls somehow manage to be unbiased, what folks say in a poll is often not what they end up saying with their vote...

[DaveinMD]

10. you quote a poll

of definite voters. Obviously, many who weren't definite turned out to vote.

[neoSattva]

11. We had a very low turnout here in Colorado

for both the Dem and Rep primaries - about 30% of registered voters. A much higher turnout was expected. I believe that that's why the polls were screwed up. The two races were somewhat similar - a known name with money, and backing from the party bigwigs, against a less well known competitor with less money, but with more support from their hard core bases - progressive (Mike Miles) or conservative (Bob Schaffer). Those were the only significant races. The only other question I had to vote on was for the CU Regent, and one of the 2 candidates had pulled out of the race - of course I, and many others, voted for him and he won with over 60%.

The big difference for November is that, compared to Coors, Ken Salazar actually knows what he's doing. He's been the state AG for years (i.e. he's won statewide elections before) and remains popular because he's a moderate dem. And besides, his wife owns a Dairy Queen.

The best line from the primary debates was from Mike Miles - The only thing Pete Coors has going for him is a lot of money and bad beer.

The voting machines in my county (Broomfield) were just for counting. We filled in large ovals with a felt pen. The ballot was card stock weight, not paper. You then put the ballot into the machine which counts and saves the ballots. I don't know if it would tell you if it was filled out wrong - eg voted for 2 candidates. The Dem and Rep county chairs checked the machines out together before the election and were satisfied that they counted as well or better than they could by hand. In any event the hard copies are saved for recounts. I am generally suspicious, but these seem pretty good.