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DEMOCRACY: Government & Politics | November 23 & 25, 2004


NOW GEORGE DUBYA "DOES THE MATH"

& ALLEGES VOTE FRAUD!

An E-Mail to Democratic Activists &

A Posting in "Comments From Left Field",

Prompted by My Statistical Analysis & That of a University Professor

IF EXIT POLLING IS SO UNRELIABLE, THEN WHY DID THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION USE IT IN 2003 TO JUSTIFY THE OUSTER OF EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE AS PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA, AND WHY -- AT THIS VERY MOMENT -- IS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION USING EXIT POLLING TO CHARGE ELECTION FRAUD IN THE UKRAINE?!

From the lead story on the front page of the Nov 23 Los Angeles Times...

...I take these excerpts...

UKRAINE ELECTION CRISIS ERUPTS

Thousands protest amid allegations of fraud as official count shows pro-Russian premier edging reformist rival in presidential race.

By David Holley
Times Staff Writer

KIEV, Ukraine -- A political crisis erupted here Monday as official results showed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich winning a bitterly contested presidential election, while opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko brought supporters into the streets to press his own claim of victory.

Ukrainian security forces threatened a crackdown as tens of thousands of protestors massed in central Kiev chanting the name of the pro-Western opposition leader. Foreign observers -- including President Bush's personal envoy, Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind) -- condemned alleged election fraud, throwing their weight behind Yushchenko and his charge that the official count was wrong.

The Central Election Commission announced that with 99.14% of voting districts counted, the prime minister led in the runoff with 49.4% to Yushchenko's 46.7%. [A 3% MARGIN OF "MANDATE" SOUNDS SORTA FAMILIAR]

However, an exit poll financed in part by the U.S. Embassy and other Western diplomatic missions showed the opposition leader winning 54% to 43%. [MAN, WHAT MUST THE ODDS BE OF THE EXIT POLLS BEING THAT FAR OFF?! IT WAS ONLY A 250-MILLION-TO-ONE LONGSHOT OF THE EXIT POLLS FOR KERRY IN FL, PA, AND OH BEING SO FAR OFF, ACCORDING TO THAT UNIV OF PENN PROF.]

...

Yanukovich...has the backing of outgoing President Leonid D. Kuchma, whose own reelection in 1999 drew criticism from Western observers... [AND HERE I WAS SORTA LOOKING FORWARDS TO 2008]

The opposition leaders vowed to challenge the election through parliament and the courts, and called for a protest outside parliament today...

Ukraine's prosecutor general, Interior Ministry and security services issued a joint statement warning that "lawlessness" would not be tolerated...

Yanukovich...claimed majority support of the voters and warned against "a small group of radicals who seek to divide Ukraine by resorting to pressure and unlawful actions."

...

Speaking at a U.S. Embassy news conference, Lugar...asserted that the results were rigged...

"It is now apparent that a concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities," Lugar said...

Lugar also quoted a letter from Bush that he had delivered to Kuchma: "You play a central role in ensuring that Ukraine's election is democratic and free of fraud and manipulation. A tarnished election, however, will lead us to review our relations with Ukraine."

[BUT GEORGE, MAYBE THE YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY WERE JUST A LOT LESS WILLING TO SPEAK WITH THE EXIT POLLSTERS, OR SOMETHING. IS GEORGE DUBYA GETTING DUPED INTO "CONSPIRACY THEORIES"?!]

...Bruce George, a leader of a delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe...[said,] "The abuse of state resources in favor of the prime minister continued as well as an overwhelming media bias in his favor." [FOXSKY NEWS?]

Lucio Malan, head of a delegation from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Parliamentary Assembly, said at the same news conference that an "unjustified increase in the use of absentee voter certificates" had "cast a shadow over the genuineness of the results."

He said that turnout in some districts in Donetsk, a Yanukovich stronghold, had jumped by 21 percentage points from the first round to more than 98% on Sunday, which he called "unrealistic and highly suspicious." [SOUNDS VAGUELY FAMILIAR]

...

Viktoria Ruban, 37, a marketing executive who joined the protests Monday, said she came [to the tent city of protestors in the city center of Kiev] because "we should teach the state they don't have any right to impose something on people."

"I can tell you for sure that Yanuovich and his team won't give up that easily," she said. But neither will the opposition, she added.

IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL...IN THE UKRAINE.

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