Posted on 12/09/2004 2:21:14 AM PST by kattracks
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Following an Election Day prediction that Democratic candidate John Kerry would win more than 300 electoral votes and the presidency, one of America's most well known polling firms continued the job Wednesday of explaining its flawed projection.
Shawnta Watson Walcott, communications director for Zogby International, joined a group of liberal Democrats at a faux congressional hearing focused on whether fraud influenced the Nov. 2 outcome.
"... it has become increasingly clear that this election has produced unprecedented levels of suspicion regarding its outcome, and we join this panel discussion in an attempt to find a resolution to these issues," said Walcott, who represented the firm's president and long time political pollster John Zogby at the forum sponsored by Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee.
On Election Day, Zogby predicted that Kerry would win 311 electoral votes. For much of that afternoon, he also rated the state of Virginia as too close to call. Not only did President Bush end up winning Virginia by 9 percentage points over Kerry, he won 286 electoral votes, over 3.3 million popular vote more than Kerry and, of course, re-election.
But with a Rayburn House Office Building meeting room as the backdrop, Judiciary Committee Democrats, liberal special interest groups and individuals like Rainbow PUSH Coalition founder Jesse Jackson Wednesday alleged that the election had been marred by fraud and malfunctioning voting machines.
Walcott told the group assembled that Zogby International had questions of its own pertaining to the election.
"We have received thousands of letters and phone calls regarding irregularities - many of which center on early exit polling results that were uncharacteristically inaccurate in several battleground states; questionable practices at polling stations that may have resulted in votes not being counted accurately; and in Ohio, as with other swing states, the automated Diebolt machines were particularly disturbing because they offered no voting receipts" she said.
"It is with this intention that we recommend that a blue ribbon bipartisan panel be developed to investigate the allegations discussed here today ..." Walcott added.
Later, another noted political observer questioned the wisdom of Walcott attending the partisan event at the Rayburn Office Building.
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said Zogby polling may have crossed a line in its call for an investigation of the election results.
"It's highly unusual for a pollster who claims not to be partisan to issue such a call [for an investigation]," Sabato told CNSNews.com .
When asked whether he thought Zogby might be trying to spread the idea of voter fraud to explain his mistaken pre-election prediction, Sabato responded, "I can't comment on [Zogby's] motives. I have no idea. But I can tell you this. This whole [election fraud] hullabaloo is malarky."
In explaining her presence at Wednesday's meeting, Walcott said she was offering "recommendations that may help restore the dignity and public confidence in the democratic process -- a process that is clearly worth protecting."
But Sabato said such criticism of the election process were without merit.
"There is absolutely no chance that the election was stolen, and there is absolutely no chance that the election results will be reversed in Ohio -- regardless of how many investigations are done," Sabato added.
Democrats have centered most of their allegations of election mismanagement or wrongdoing on Ohio, even though President Bush beat Kerry in the state by more than 135,000 votes.
Sabato also ridiculed the assertion by Zogby International that its exit polls were "uncharacteristically inaccurate" in 2004. "They have been characteristically inaccurate in 2000, 2002, 2004 -- wrong three times in a row and highly inaccurate," Sabato said.
"So talking about cynicism, the cynicism is being generated by these wild claims. Was it a perfect election? No. Has there ever been a perfect election in the history of the world? No," Sabato concluded.
See Related Article:
Jesse Jackson: 2004 Election 'Ain't Over' (Dec. 8, 2004)
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
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You are so right!
I was a Zogby respondent for the full year before the election. Every time I was asked to answer, I could see errors of logic in the questions and inherent biases in the multiple choices offered. As a mathematician I am familiar with statistical bias. Sad to say Zogby's bias was obvious in the questions.
STOP CONFUSING ME!! Republicans keep making fun of stupid people. That's why we never vote for you guys! By the way, have any of you seen my hat???
(Scratches head in confusion. Wanders off thread.)
L.O.L....Your right...Democrats are stupid people.
My reccommendation? Count the optically scanned ballots one time and then don't bitch and whine about the results.
Then why was almost every other pollster spot-on within a point or two?
Even Zogpiss showed Bush winning the popular vote.
LMAO!
I am so happy that the myth of Zogby's competance has finally put away. I remember arguing with untold numbers of freepers who swore by him before this election based on Zog's own fallacious stats from the 2000 race. The mantra-like claim Zogbyphiles repeated over and over again, "Zogby was dead on in 2000" shall, thank God, never be taken seriously again.
ping
I'd be perfectly willing to see an investigation into fraud - that is, the fraud of the exit polling. This election was certainly much cleaner than, say, the 1960 election.
Interesting stuff. The whinning may never stop.
I have never heard of a single documented case of such nonsense. You'd have to be from another planet not to know the correct election day.
If someone sent out such notices, where is a hard copy example? It would also have a postmark and probably a return address.
This is almost as good as Zogby proclaiming his "Interactive" polls a great success and the wave of the future.
I forgot how well Tarrance performed, in this case.
The only reason that I mentioned Rasmussen was because it seemed like his poll was relied upon to a large extent by other freepers during the election.
This is the coup de grace for schlockby. No sane objective pollster would have participated in that acid trip of a farce of a whine-festival. Hereafter, his polls and polling methodology will be fit only for his fellow Islamofascists, who need to poll their rabid scum on proper beheading techniques and number of times to lash a woman who peeks out a window without her veil.
Folks as stupid as the NAACP claims their folks are, are certainly too stupid to vote...
Semper Fi
And I have been voting for decades and have never gotten or seen any type of receipt for voting.
THE ONLY FRAUD IS ZOGBY!
HE SNEEK PEEKS AT EXIT POLLING DATA, 5PM THE DAY OF THE ELECTION, AND THEN PUTS OUT HIS "FINAL" POLL!
WHAT A JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next election cycle, can we please not post any Zogby polls?
They're just mad because they can't stuff the ballot boxes or punch out chads.
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