What's Up In Italy? Exit Polls wrong again..... Berlesconi Making Gains

[althecat]

Hi All,

Does anyone know what voting systems are used in Italy? While the exit polls showed a safe victory to the leftist coalition of Romani Prodi reports today indicate Berlesconi is making up the losses in the actual count and may even win.

Cheers
Althecat

[marmar]

1. They introduced "electronic" voting this year as I understand it...

So I'm sure you can see where this is going.

[Febble]

14. Except that....

Prodi seems to have won by a whisker and it is Berlusconi who is demanding a recount.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-04-11T070909Z_01_L06742415_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ITALY.xml&archived=False

"Neither side reached 50 percent (in the lower house) and the margin is under 25,000 votes. Such a tiny difference necessitates a scrupulous checking of the counting and tally sheets ...," Paolo Bonauiti, Berlusconi's right-hand man, told reporters in the early morning hours.

So either he's bluffing, or the rigging has been done by Prodi's lot. In which case, why did the exit polls favour Prodi?

[Land Shark]

16. Dear Febble, one can cheat without knowing the exact margin to be beat

and therefore can come up a whisker short.

[althecat]

17. Its also possibly that Berlusconi doesn't know that jiggery pokery....

.. is underway

[kster]

2. Electronic voting comes to Italy

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/04/news/rome.php

[althecat]

9. Great link Kster.... if there is fraud then it will be obvious....

Voters in the four regions will cast their ballots just like everybody else and the votes will be counted as before. It is what happens next that changes.

The authorities at each polling station will enter the results into a computer and save the data on an encrypted USB memory stick that is formatted to work only on certain computers.

The memory sticks will be collected in one room, where the data will be read and sent on to the Interior Ministry in Rome. Polling officials are to follow every step of the process. The intent is to speed up the count.

"In Italy there has always been high voter turnout and the problem has been counting all the ballots in a timely fashion," said Dario De Marchi, Stanca's spokesman. "Electronic counting settles this and favors democracy rather than one candidate or party over another."

The decree outlining the new method of recording votes, approved by the Berlusconi government in January, says that if the data collected electronically is contested it will no longer be valid and a manual count of the printed ballots will take precedence.

But the critics said such a development could lead to a crisis of the type that shut down Florida after the U.S. presidential election in 2000.

[ananda]

3. electronic voting..

.. and a lotta money changing hands.

With a compliant press of course, because Berlusconi owns it.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

4. This Is Our Future....

We have no say, no control, no voice.

It's over. Get used to it.

I just can't stand this constant losing, worldwide. Germany, Canada, Italy....all going to the dark side. We're slowly being eliminated.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

5. One difference

The Italians, I expect, have been down this road so many times before they will have no compunction about strikes and riots if the discrepancy is too far off.

[Tempest]

6. Unlike in America

If the Italians think the vote has been defrauded, they will protest in great numbers.

[MADem]

7. Wow, looking at the latest news reports, it's Italy's 2000

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ct=title&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/357831CB-7D5E-41AA-B55A-3133A31F4D35.htm&scoring=d

Exit Polls: Prodi Defeats Berlusconi as Italian PM
St.Petersburg Times.ru, Russia - 23 minutes ago
By Crispian Balmer. ROME — Center-left leader Romano Prodi looks set to beat Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy’s general ...

Italy''s Prodi Ahead In Vote, Senate Race Close
Mediafax, Romania - 28 minutes ago
Centre-left leader Romano Prodi looked set to beat Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy''s general election, but initial returns indicated he would hold ...

Berlusconi, Prodi Locked in Vote Too Close to Call (Update1)
Bloomberg - 28 minutes ago
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and former European Commission President Romano Prodi are locked in an election fight that's ...

Polls Say Italian Race Too Close to Call
WJLA, DC - 29 minutes ago
ROME (AP) - Exit polls indicated Monday that the Italian parliamentary election pitting center-left economist Romano Prodi against flamboyant billionaire ...

Berlusconi could win election: pollster
The Age, Australia - 30 minutes ago
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could win Italy's general election by retaining control of both houses of parliament, Nexus pollsters said. ...

Berlusconi could win election: pollster
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 32 minutes ago
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could win Italy's general election by retaining control of both houses of parliament, Nexus pollsters said. ...

Prospect of split parliament looms over Italy
Monsters and Critics.com, UK - 32 minutes ago
Rome - The risk of a split parliament loomed over Italy on Monday after provisional results showed that Romano Prodi looked set to gain control of the Chamber ...

Berlusconi could win election: pollster
Seven.com.au, Australia - 34 minutes ago
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could win Italy's general election by retaining control of both houses of parliament, Nexus pollsters said. ...

Italy: Berlusconi Looks Headed For Defeat
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic - 36 minutes ago
Controversial Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi looks set to go down in defeat in Italy's first general elections since 2001. ...

Italy's election hangs in the balance
Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand - 37 minutes ago
ROME: The result of Italy's general election is hanging in the balance, but one pollster said partial returns suggested Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi might ...

Exit Polls Point to Prodi Victory
The Moscow Times, Russia - 44 minutes ago
By Frances D'Emilio. ROME -- Romano Prodi's center-left coalition looked set to beat Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's forces ...

Italy's Prodi set to win election, according to exit polls
Al-Jazeerah.info, GA - 46 minutes ago
ROME - Centre-left leader Romano Prodi looked on course to beat Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy’s general election, exit polls showed on Monday, as ...

Prodi - Berlusconi - Result of the Italy vote on a knife-edge
EiTB, Spain - 47 minutes ago
Centre-left leaders reacted with dismay and disbelief as the polls changed direction. Centre-right leaders were cautious, saying ...

Exit polls point to Prodi victory
Hindu, India - 47 minutes ago
Rome: According to at least three exit polls, Italy's Centre-Left coalition led by the former Prime Minister and EU Commission President, Romano Prodi ...

Polls Say Italian Race Too Close to Call
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA - 49 minutes ago
By FRANCES D'EMILIO. ROME - Exit polls indicated Monday that the Italian parliamentary election pitting center-left economist Romano ...

Polls Say Italian Race Too Close to Call
CBS News - 53 minutes ago
(AP) Exit polls indicated Monday that the Italian parliamentary election pitting center-left economist Romano Prodi against flamboyant billionaire Premier ...

New Italian Exit Polls Suggest Narrow Win For Berlusconi’s ...
All Headline News - 53 minutes ago
Rome, Italy (AHN) – As counting continues in the Italian election, a new update on the exit polls now suggests a narrow win for Silvio Berlusconi's center ...

Polls Say Italian Race Too Close to Call
nwitimes.com, IN - 54 minutes ago
By FRANCES D'EMILIO. ROME - Exit polls indicated Monday that the Italian parliamentary election pitting center-left economist Romano ...

[althecat]

8. Lets vote this thread up... everybody ought to be aware of this....

Will be great if Berlusconi wins then gets unseated in another popular revolution over electronic voting machines :)

[althecat]

10. State Dept. Spokesman Talks Exit Polls

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00198.htm
QUESTION: Can I ask about the Italian elections? Iraq evidently was not a major issue in the campaign, but still one of the U.S.'s best friends Berlusconi, seems to have lost. And the winner is somebody who wants to get out of Iraq as soon as possible. Will the U.S. miss the Berlusconi government? You lost Aznar in Spain and now Berlusconi in Italy. Do you feel any loss so far as maintaining a coalition?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think, Barry, we certainly are not going to put much stock into exit polls at this point. We'll see what the final conclusions are and before you have a final vote count, I'm not going to have any comment on it. We certainly look forward to working with whoever is the next prime minister. Italy is a good friend and ally and we look forward to working with them on a number of issues of common concern between our two countries.

QUESTION: But Prodi has been notably anti-American over the years.

MR. MCCORMACK: Like I said, we're not -- I'm not here to declare winners in the Italian election. We'll work with the next Italian -- we will look forward to working with the next Italian Government.

QUESTION: Sean, I guess it is early, as you say.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. It's at 3:00, I think, they're supposed to have some initial polls out. But again, we here, Barry, are very leery of commenting on exit polls.

QUESTION: All right. Well, I tried anyhow, but I can see that you want to wait a little bit. The Prodi coalition has Communists in it and I think 30 years ago, the U.S. refused to deal with Italy because there were Communists in the government.

Do you have -- does the U.S. have a position on dealing with a government is it like Hamas?

MR. MCCORMACK: I know you're a baseball fan, Barry, so I'll just say swing and a miss.

QUESTION: Change of subject?

QUESTION: Sí, cómo no?

QUESTION: Swing and miss?

QUESTION: Swing and miss, it's a baseball thing. We'll explain later.

QUESTION: We'll tell you later.

MR. MCCORMACK: We'll fill you in later. Barry can fill you in later on it.

[nicknameless]

13. Sheesh. Is Sean McCormack any relation to the infamous Conny McCormack?

:puke:

[nicknameless]

11. Berlesconi, a thug in cahoots with the cabal, introduces e-voting machines

so he can "win".

Well, Italy is much more accustomed than the US to dealing with organized crime.

[Wilms]

12. .

:(

[EFerrari]

15. Hooey. We've all seen this pattern before.

Fake elections.

[rumpel]

18. Sorry, over the past ten days I did not post the Italy info in the ERD

there was tons of stuff...

I think there was also an article that they had also changed some arrangements in their parliament....

Never question your first instincts....

:banghead: