# something funny is going on **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317 "2004-11-06T04:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/21 "2004-11-07T18:51:26Z")
> [@The Truth](#): > > Exit polls can indeed be manipulated, if one knows in advance where the specific polling locations are going to take place. > > One theory is that the Dems knew the locations in advance, and they sent out their legions of angry sheep to deliberately manipulate the polls in these specific locations, causing the poll results to heavily favor Kerry. Not likely. Voters were supposed to vote in their home districts, not where it would benefit one party over the other. Also, as a registered Dem, I had nobody telling me where to vote. As far as the “angry sheep” bit, I’ll let it pass. It is not abrasive or virulent enough to be worthy of reply. Not one single obscenity; you can do better. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/22 "2004-11-08T00:38:58Z")
I also think it quite possible this year that some voter voted for Bush, but “just barely”, and couldn’t quite bring themselves to admit it to the pollsters – and perhaps, to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/23 "2004-11-08T00:45:19Z")
> [@The Truth](#): > > One theory is that the Dems knew the locations in advance, and they sent out their legions of angry sheep to deliberately manipulate the polls in these specific locations, causing the poll results to heavily favor Kerry. Utterly ridiculous. You have to vote where you are assigned to vote. You don’t get to switch in the middle of the day. And the pollers catch you just as you are exiting the polling area. Manipulating the polls in this way is nearly impossible. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/24 "2004-11-08T01:31:01Z")
And besides, what benefit would Kerry derive from showing an early lead in exit polling? If anything, the Kerry camp would benefit from early exit polls showing a Bush lead, to motivate more Kerry voters to show up and counter-vote the trend. It is interesting to note in the graphs on the OP that the states with electronic voting have final results that vary dramatically from the exit poll results, whereas the states without e-voting were fairly consistent between the exit polls and the finals… but I’m sure George W. Bush and the legion of Bushite apologists will dismiss such talk as giving “aid and comfort to the enemy,” or some similar nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/25 "2004-11-08T01:37:41Z")
The PA counter issue turned out to be a case where the machines have a counter of how many votes have gone through them over their lifetime, there was a seperate counter for the day’s votes. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/26 "2004-11-08T01:52:38Z")
See [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=285219) for some discussion on this. In particular, [my post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5466804&postcount=52) about how misleading many of those graphs are. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/27 "2004-11-08T13:32:47Z")
Did anyone read my post? The graphs are out of context and useless.I’m still having some problem reading them but I got the gist. Which supposed exit polls are these? When were they taken? Look at my link to CNNs final exit poll. Its a hell of a lot different than the “poll” shown on the graph for Ohio. CNN males 53% Bush, 47% Kerry and 50-50 for women. Is that inaccurate? Did the electronic voting machines change CNNs exit polls? I knowm, CNN is a tool of the right-wing :rolleyes: . ---
**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/28 "2004-11-08T15:08:57Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > The PA counter issue turned out to be a case where the machines have a counter of how many votes have gone through them over their lifetime, there was a seperate counter for the day’s votes. I didn’t know that. Do you have a cite for this? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/29 "2004-11-08T15:56:23Z")
> [@malkavia](#): > > Hahahaha! It’s really cute how you get such a kick out of skewing the only real checks and balances system available to the public regarding our voting system. > > You’ll excuse me while I go weep for humanity. kthx. Exactly. That’s why the Founding Fathers added the exit polls as a check in the Constitution. Oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/30 "2004-11-09T15:13:22Z")
> [@SiouxChief](#): > > I didn’t know that. Do you have a cite for this? [Republicans claimed](http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/nation/10084735.htm?1c) two of the city’s 3,500 voting machines were already loaded with votes when polls opened, a charge that sparked national attention when it landed on the Drudge Report Web site in the morning. City officials said they rechecked and found the machines had started out at zero votes. They say observers might have misunderstood a counter on the machines that totals past votes. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317/31 "2004-11-09T15:19:15Z")
Yes, my machine had two counters, one with 000 (the vote counter) and one with 11,342 (the number of votes cast on the machine since 1962, although frankly the odometer might have tripped over a couple of times!) That said, I don’t know what kinds of machines they had out there, but even here in NYC the numbers are checked about five times over the course of weeks before the machine is even wheeled off by the Union Guys Wot Take Care of the Machines o’ Freedom. I have no doubt that somebody just read the wrong gauge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-funny-is-going-on/273317.md?page=1)