The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for the week ... · thousands of dollars and perform other confidential, banking transactions with our phones, we ought to be able to vote

INSIDE INTELLIGENCE: The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for 21 October 2016

The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll

for the week of 21 October 2016





Doesrepeatedtalkofariggedelectionmaketheelectoratelessconfidentinthesecurityandlegitimacyofthisyear’spresidentialelection?

•"Perhapsalittle.ButmostpeoplehavebecomedesensitizedtoTrump'sblowhardstatements."

•"Dependsonyouraudience—always.TheTrumpfolksloveit,itaddslayersofmistrustofgovernmentandworksfortheirpoliticalagenda."

•"After2000,fewpeoplehaveconfidenceinelectionsanyway."

•"Anytimeaninsinuationisrepeatedasfactmultipletimes,itwillhaveaneffect.Thistime,it'sthedefactoleaderofamajorpoliticalpartyregardingourmosttreasuredright,voting."

•"Onthemargins,yes.Moreimportantly,thetalkislikelytodiscouragesomeTrumpsupportersfromvotingatall,whichcallsintoquestionthewisdomofmakingtheclaimbeforetheelectionhasactuallyhappened."


•"Onlyamongthosepeoplewhobelieveanythingthatthismansays.Ofcourse,thisgroupprobablyalreadyarealreadyofthisopinion."

•"ElectionsaremanagedandcontrolledbylocalofficialsacrosstheU.S.Thereisnowayforanationalelectiontoberigged—Trumpisdesperateand'whining'asPresidentObamasaidyesterday."

•"Uh,it'sthecandidatesthatmaketheelectoratelessconfident."

•"Theseareverydangerouscomments."

•"AddthattalktothespeculationofvoterfraudinTexas,andI'msurethere'satinfoilhat-wearingRepublicanbelievingitisallariggedsystem."

•"Theonlyonesayingit'sriggedistheonewho'slosing.Theonewho'slosingistheonlyoneinthecountrythatdoesn'tknowit."

•"ItisanattemptbyMr.Trumptoquestiontheoutcomeoftheelection.Ifheloses,thenitMUSTbebecausetheelectionwasstolenfromhim—afterall,MILLIONSofpeoplelovehimandwantedtohaveapresidentthatisaracist,sexistcrazyman."

•"Whichiswhatitisintendedtodo."

•"Texashasalonghistoryofvoterfraudandelectionrigging.AskCokeStevenson."

•"ButTrumpisright,themajormediaisriggedforClinton."

•"Trumpneedstopicktwoorthreethingshe'llchangeandsticktoit."

•"OnlywithTrumpsupporters."

•"Althoughit'snotliketheyneededareason.Thepressissoblatantlybiased;iftheelectionswereriggedinfavoroftheleft,you'dneverreadaboutitintheU.S.press.Yes,thatincludestheTexasTribune."

•"Itmakesthemlessconfidentforgoodreason.Electionshavebeenriggedinthepast,andelectionswillcontinuetoberiggedsolongasdeadpeoplevoteandsomepeoplecontinuetopushtheabhorrentstorylinethatminoritiesarecongenitallyincapableofobtainingidentification."

•"Onlytheboneheadswhoneedajustificationfortheirmisogynyand/orracism."

•"ThemajorityofTrumpsupportersalreadybelieve(possiblywithsomejustificationconcerningcertainpolicies)thatthingsareriggedagainstthem.Sowhynotelections,too?"

•"Absurdtalkfromanabsurdperson"

•"Trumpisafool.InsulttomanyRepublicangovernors."

•"Amongthosepronetoblackhelicopterbeliefs,andcombinedwithacampaignthathasjustlosttheelection,yes,thisnatteringwillmakethingsworse.Thereisanamazingnumberofpeoplewhoarewillingtobelievethatsomesecret,evilforce,beittheVatican,theMasons,orChineseCommunists,arecapableofmakingthemooncrashintotheAmericanhomeland."


•"Itdoes,but,sincethestatesruntheelections,atleastthecorruptionwillbe

moreefficient."

Areyoulessconfidentinthesecurityandlegitimacyofthisyear’spresidentialelection?

•"Americaisgreat!"

•"Asaformerelectionjudge,Iamverysatisfiedwiththemanagementoftheelections.AlthoughIstronglybelievethereshouldbeapaperbackupforeach.Thiswouldnotbehardtoaccomplish."

•"Discussionofthisissuchaninsulttoourelectionadministrators."

•"Theballotsecuritydoesn'tconcernme.Theactiveparticipationinthiscampaignofpeopleandinstitutionswho'vehistoricallyheldtolaudablecannonsseriouslyconcerns."

•"IamnotbecauseIknowelectionsarenotrigged."

•"It'spaybackforthe2000presidentialelectioninwhichBush,'cough,'stoletheelectionfromGore."

•"ThereisNOTrampantvoterfraud.Ithasbeena'redherring'usedbygroupstohinderothersintheprocessofvoting.(Theseusedtobeliteracytests,polltaxes,etc.)."

•"Anythingelectronic,likeourvotingmachines,issusceptibletohackingandmonkeybusiness."

•"Moreorless,butsincewedon’tgenerallypurgeourrollsforpeoplemoving,cheatingispossible."

•"TheClintonistaregimewilldoanythingtowin.Bothshouldbeinjail.He,forsexualmisconduct;her,forbreachofnationalsecurityandtreason.Theyhavenomoralcompass,don'tknowtruthandareaboutpowerandcontrol.AKAfascists."

•"ObamahasmanipulatedtheNSA.HillaryhasmanipulatedtheFBI.Thepresshasdoneeverythinginitspowertomanipulatetheelectorate.WhyamIsupposedtohaveconfidence?"

•"ThoseRussianhackersareextremelycompetent."

•"ItrustthoseinTexastaskedwithadministeringtheelectionsprocess."

•"CantheTexasTribunefocusonTexas?"

•"TheRussianinterferenceisacauseforconcern,butatthispointthatseemsunlikelytomakeanydifferenceintheresult.Trump'svaguetheoriesarebaseless,buthisaccusationsthemselvesareharmfultolegitimacy."


Howseriousaproblemdoyouthinkeachofthefollowingwillbeinthe2016elections?

•"WikiLeaksisveryscary,andIreallydon'tknowhowmuchaccessthesetypeofgroupsmayhavebutIdobelievethatourinternalprocessforvotingissecure."

•"Voterfraudisaveryrareactivity.Moreoften,peoplefindareasonnottovoteatall.Electionsarenotrunovertheinternet,eliminatingthepossibilityofhacking.Anyquestionsstillremainingabouttheintegritycanbesolvedbyapaperballotbackups."

•"Therewillbeisolatedincidencesofvoterfraudbutnothingthatisgoingtoalterthetrajectoryofastatewiderace,orinthecaseofthepresidentialelection,50differentstatewideraces."

•"Themostseriousproblemwithvotinginthe2016electionwillbeashortageoftin-foilhats."

•"IfyouareacriminalorhereillegallyWHYwouldyoudrawattentiontoyourselfbyregisteringtoVOTE?PeoplewhoarenoteligibletovoteDONOTVOTE!"

•"Thistalkisallexcusesfromafailingcampaigntoshiftblamefromtheircandidateforhisdefeatortotrytodepressturnoutofoppositionvoters."

•"Ithinkthisisaveryrealpossibility.'Shanghai-ing'theelectionbyanothermeansdoesn'tseemasprobable.Andwhenthegovernmentsaysourdataissafe,don'tbelieveit,justaskSusanCombs."

•"Howabouthackedbyapoliticalpartyorthegovernment?"

•"Wehavemadevotingmoredifficult.Ifwehavetheabilitytotransferthousandsofdollarsandperformotherconfidential,bankingtransactionswithourphones,weoughttobeabletovotewiththem,too."

•"ObamahasdirectedhisJusticeDepartmenttothrowoutallreasonablevoterIDrules.Youcan'tbuySudafed,butyoucanvote.Crazy!Yes,IknowthatE-SlatesinTexasarenotconnectedtotheinternet.ButthemainframesattheCountyClerk'sofficesthattabulatetheresultsare.TheyarereportedviatheinternettotheSecretaryofState.Hackerscanapparentlygetanyone'semails,creditcards,etc.Majorcorporationsspendhugesumsandstillgethacked.Butdon'tworry—ourCountyClerk'sofficesaresafe.Right..."

•"Apparentlythebesttechniqueistohackthevoterfiles,sothateligiblevotersgetturnedawayonElectionDay.Alsoeffective:standingoutsidepollingstationswithbaseballbats."

•"PutinandtheKGBwantTrump."

•"I'vebeenconcernedaboutthisforalongtime.Doesn'tseemthatitwouldbecomplicatedforamalicious,motivatedhackertocrackthesystem."


ThestateisinvestigatingallegationsofvoterfraudinTarrantCounty.Howlikelyisitthestateuncoversevidenceofwidespreadvoterfraud?

•"Ibelieveithappens,andIbelieveit'shardtoprove."

•"HighlyunlikelythereismassvoterfraudinTexas.Muchmorelikelyisvoterintimidation.Longhistorythere."

•"Voteharvestingdoeshappen—weknowthat.Itwillbeinterestingtofinallylearntheextentoftheproblem."

•"Fraudhappens.Arkansas.Chicago.Philadelphia.DadeCounty.SouthTexas.#GTS"

•"Widespreadbeingdefinedas...TarrantCountyhasissuesbuttheseproblemsseemtobecontainedwithinthecounty."

•"WidespreadmeansjustabouteveryprecinctinTarrantCounty.Idoubtthefraudwentthatfararound.Itisusuallyafewrogueprecinctstiedtoaspecificcorroboratorseekingalegupontheelectionvictory."

•"VoterfraudisaprobleminventedbyRepublicantojustifysuppressingDemocraticminorityandelderlyvoters."

•"Define'widespread.'Forsome,amorselofevidenceisenoughproof,butforothersevenonecaseoffraudis

easilydismissed(seee.g.,therecentFBIinvestigationintheRGV)."

•"RememberTarrantCountyisthehomeofTransportationCommitteetestimonyfraudleaderandforgiventoker,JonathanStickland,theoriginalGOPwomanbasher."

•"Thekeystonecops..."

•"Widespreadvoterfraudisnotnecessarywhenpocketsofvoterfraudwillsuffice."

•"LonBurnamwillstumblehiswayintobeingatooloftheRstoexposenon-existentvoterfraud."

•"Buteveniftheydo,nolaworproposalhasbeenrecommendedtodealwithmailballots."

•"ThereisnovoterfraudinTarrantCounty."

•"Define'widespread.'Fraudisnotthathardtofindifyoulookhardenough.Whetheritiswidespreadornotisanothermatter."


Ourthankstothisweek'sparticipants:GeneAcuna,BrandonAlderete,ClydeAlexander,JayArnold,AndrewBiar,AllenBlakemore,ChrisBritton,RaifCalvert,LydiaCamarillo,ElnaChristopher,HaroldCook,KevinCooper,RandyCubriel,BethCubriel,DeniseDavis,JuneDeadrick,TomDuffy,RichardDyer,JackErskine,GayErwin,TomForbes,DominicGiarratani,MachreeGibson,BruceGibson,StephanieGibson,EricGlenn,KinnanGolemon,DanielGonzalez,JohnGreytok,ClintHackney,WayneHamilton,BillHammond,DeborahIngersoll,MarkJones,RobertKepple,RichardKhouri,TomKleinworth,NickLampson,PeteLaney,DickLavine,JamesLeBas,LukeLegate,MyraLeo,RubenLongoria,JasonMcElvaney,SteveMinick,MikeMoses,KeirMurray,NelsonNease,ToddOlsen,GardnerPate,RobertPeeler,TomPhillips,WaynePierce,RichardPineda,AllenPlace,GaryPolland,JayPritchard,JayPropes,TedMelinaRaab,PatrickReinhart,DavidReynolds,CarlRichie,A.J.Rodriguez,GrantRuckel,TylerRuud,JasonSabo,AndySansom,BarbaraSchlief,StanSchlueter,RobertScott,BruceScott,BenSebree,ChristopherShields,NancySims,EdSmall,MarthaSmiley,MarkSmith,LeonardSpearman,DennisSpeight,TomSpilman,SherrySylvester,SaraTays,VickiTruitt,CorbinVanArsdale,ChrisWallace,DavidWhite,DarrenWhitehurst,MichaelWilliams,PeckYoung,AngeloZottarelli.

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The Texas Weekly/Texas Tribune insider poll for the week ... · thousands of dollars and perform other confidential, banking transactions with our phones, we ought to be able to vote