Reply #56: ESI can not be trusted [View All]

[garybeck]

If anyone conducts a study into the Ohio 2004 election and does not look at any BALLOTS, does not do any random sampling of any BALLOTS, and IGNORES sworn testimony by 7 people who saw illegal white stickers on ballots, and comes to a conclusion that there was not widespread fraud is basically an ostrich with their head in the sand.

sorry for the run on sentence.

but, I would think that if someone wanted to find out if an election was done properly, the FIRST place they would look is at the ballots. All paper ballots are preserved for 22 months from the election. ESI did not think it was an issue, to look at or count any of them.

In other words, if there was any fraud in the ballot counting, ESI would not have discovered it.

So how can they say there was not any systematic fraud? Beats me.

And I have to say, that I personally brought this up with Steve Hertzberg. I asked him before the study if they were going to do any sampling of the ballots and make sure the ballots were counted properly. He got all defensive and said that the people calling for that type of study were just conspiracy theorists who were bummed that Kerry lost. To me, that was HUGE red flag that this study can not be trusted.

Anyone who calls himself a "scientist" should know, that a scientific study requires an open mind and not preconcieved notions. All possible outcomes should be on the table. You can't go into a study like this thinking that everyone who thinks the election was stolen is a Kerry sympathizer / conspiracy theorist.

I also know that he chose to ignore any evidence that had been painstakingly put together by an array of lawyers and PHD statistians, simply because he considered them to be conspiracy theorists. In other words, while people had done months of extensive research on the long lines and other related issues that showed conclusive evidence, he made an illogical decision to igonre all the evidence and conduct his own "study."

My conclusion is that the Election Science Institute is anything but "science." Hertzberg himself does not have scientific credentials, at least none that I could find, and I did search quite extensively. He is from the military, not that it necessarily means anything. But all I can say is if you want to find the truth, you are best off ignoring ESI and their study that concludes Ohio was not stolen.