Independent Exit Polls 2006: Citizen Election Protection, with Your Help

Stopping the theft of Election 2006 will depend upon two critical components: Detection and Response. The word will be going out to all concerned Americans to declare NO CONFIDENCE in dubious election results where the numbers don’t add up. We sense that the level of concern, indeed alarm, is such that citizens will answer in great numbers the call to protect our democracy.

It is essential that this response be informed. Just as Paul Revere looked to the lanterns (“one if by land, two if by sea”) for his message, all citizens called to action and coming together in the critical aftermath of Election 2006 will need to know what has happened and where. Although the level of scrutiny will be high and thousands have already volunteered as election observers, the reality is that computerized counting can make election theft invisible to the naked eye, no matter how many observers are deployed and no matter how vigilant they are.

Exit Polls, whether in the Ukraine or the US, remain the most powerful tool available for detecting fraud and theft, which is why the campaign to discredit them has been so determined. That analysts at EDA and cooperating organizations will require access to polling data independent of media control is obvious in the wake Election 2004, when exit polls were “adjusted” to conform to vote totals and the authentic polling data appeared only briefly on the web by mistake. That mistake will not be repeated in 2006, so the “official” exit polls will be useless at best.

Fortunately EDA has created a viable plan for non-media exit polls, professionally conducted by a major polling firm, targeted to the critical competitive federal races, and accurate to within a 2% margin. The results of these polls, like the lanterns in the Old North Church, will tell our analysts what they need to know and complement all other means of monitoring in giving a foundation to both Election Day Rapid Response and all subsequent activities.

EDA urgently needs your FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS to help to pay for this crucial component of Election Protection. Although we have obtained very favorable terms, the cost of commissioning a professional polling firm to conduct an exit poll for a Congressional District is about $15,000. An online survey tracking a statewide contest such as Secretary of State, or U.S. Senate, will cost about $20,000. This is a truly small price to pay for the preservation, or restoration, of our democracy—but it is a price that will never be paid if we each step back and assume that someone else will pay it. America now depends, quite literally, on you.

We can all feel the urgency. PLEASE ACT NOW TO GIVE YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT and to spread the word. We thank you.