Republican Poll Rigging ......

[Dover]

Okay, this is Greek to me, but maybe some of you computer savvy folks can check the math and tell me if this is possible....


Senate Republicans cheat with online poll!

http://www.senate.gov/~src/home/index.cfm?Poll=1

Seraphiel writes in:

I noticed something interesting about that poll...
I was refreshing the page a few times and noticed that the second response, the one they "wanted," was inreasing abnormally.
So I checked the source code and saw ....they simply switched which item each button votes for, so all the votes for the "wrong" answer end up being for the one they want.
How, er, responsible of our elected representatives.

http://atrios.blogspot.com/

[tkmorris]

1. Oh yeah

Doing that would be the easiest thing in the world, seriously. The trouble is that anyone who is reasonably functioning mentally would tend to notice if their vote went in the wrong column.

[Dover]

2. thanks. Well, not always. If the results just show percentages

rather than individual votes then it would be hard to tell if your vote was counted wouldn't it?.

[bearfartinthewoods]

6. why would they screw with how many eyes does river have????

what am i missing?

[necso]

3. To examine source...

One would have to download the cfm (cold fusion) source file as opposed to the results it returns based on some (no) inputs. I am a little loathe to try this on the senate website... just a chance that they would get a little upset.

I sure ain't seeing what is claimed in the reference in the returns I get on either the poll or results page. These "sources" are nothing special. The critical line is:
<FORM name=poll action=http://www.senate.gov/~src/poll/index.cfm?fuseaction=act_poll&poll_id=89 method=post>

What the source file does in these circumstances is anybody's guess --- unless you have it.

But I ain't messing with it.

[0rganism]

4. Calling *anything* on the web a "poll" is far too kind

You push your button, but even if your vote registers correctly the next time *you* look at it, doesn't mean a damn thing about how it'll count 10 minutes later. I've seen webmasters change the choices around while leaving the votes the same, or just change the votes outright, and if the poll is anonymous (like the CNN web page polls) they can't even tell if you voted more than once.

The day I stopped watching CNN was the day they bothered to report one of their web polls on the broadcast news. That's how low I rank web polls on the heierarchy of fact.

It should send shivers down your spine that the e-voting machines so many states are switching to are produced by companies chaired by hardcore republicans, INCLUDING SEN. CHUCK HAGEL. And what certification processes there are, aren't even adhered to in setting up machines for elections.

[DUreader]

5. It is documented in this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1017326&mesg_id=1017326