" Iran's 2009 Election Results Suggest Massive Fraud...Just Like Ohio's in 2004 "

Without citizen oversight and transparency, 'faith-based' elections threaten democracy no matter where they are held...

It sounds a lot like Ohio 2004. A less than popular old-line incumbent facing massive public demonstrations against him and in favor of his main progressive challenger promising reform; polls that suggest a swell of support for the challenger; unprecedented turnout on Election Day; long lines at polling places; paper ballot shortages and names missing from voter rolls; widespread rumors, concerns and evidence of voter intimidation and vote-rigging, all accompanied nonetheless by a general feeling among the populace that the incumbent has been turned out, only to learn from officials, late on Election Night, after secret vote counting, that the incumbent has been declared the winner of a second term.

The most substantive difference from Ohio 2004, however: the declared winner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is said to have defeated his main opponent Mir Hossein Mousavi by a 63% to 34% "landslide", instead of the razor-thin margin seen in Ohio (and across the popular vote in the rest of the nation). In Iran, a result of anything less than 50% + 1 for the leading candidate would have triggered a national runoff election.

The other main differences between Iran '09 and Ohio '04: New York Times is already asking "Landslide or Fraud?" this morning; in Iran, supporters of the challenger are taking to the streets; and the challenger himself has already called the election results a "fraud"...


During a late-night news conference last night, after poll hours had been extended (in some places, but not all), purportedly to accommodate the massive turnout, Moussavi told reporters: "I am the absolute winner of the election by a very large margin...It is our duty to defend people’s votes. There is no turning back."

But by morning, after the remarkable official "results" were reported, declaring Moussavi the loser by a landslide, he issued a striking statement challenging the validity of the official results: "I’m warning that I won’t surrender to this manipulation," he said, adding "people won’t respect those who take power through fraud" and declaring the announced results "treason to the votes of the people."

In Iran yesterday, as in most of Ohio in 2004, voters cast their votes on paper ballots which were moved before being counted centrally, by supporters of the incumbent, in secret. Without public observation and oversight of the tabulation, there is no way to confirm the accuracy of the reported results either way. In Iran, as in Ohio in 2004, citizens are being asked to simply trust in the incumbent-controlled tabulation of what amounts to 100% "faith-based" election results

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7224

I really feel bad for all those people who voted against Ahmadinejad. They have another 4 years of their nightmare!