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Tag Archives: Polls
Outsourced: Hello, Elections!
Tribal women in line to vote.
Today concluded the first of five phases of the Indian election, where 60% of voters turned out to the polls. (Refer to my earlier post for the basics of the Indian political system.) The states where voting began were Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Lakshwadeep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Thousands of troops have been deployed to the states to
With month-long elections in the world’s biggest democracy, it can’t be expected for the process to without a few kinks — or violence. Maoist insurgents in central and eastern India, with landmines and rocket bombs, killed 17 people in 14 attacks at poll stations across India. The Naxalites, the Maoist insurgents, have been battling with the Indian government forever and a day. One would think with so many troops deployed, even localized events like this could be avoided.
Currently, it seems as though the current Congress (I) Party and the Bharataya Janata Party will get the majority of votes, while some smaller ethnic and minority parties will take a smaller piece of the pie. Regardless, after the election, new coalitions will have to be stitched together to keep the Indian government in functioning order. The Congress Party, as a reminder, is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s party and India’s explosive economic growth is attributed to them. On another note, the Congress Party has often been criticized for its handling of the 11/26 terrorist attacks in Mumbai last year. BJP, on the other hand, tends to take hardline stances on terrorism, while inciting friction between Indian Muslims and Christians.
With this only being the beginning, it will be interesting to see the elections pan out. (A whole month of election day coverage? Yes! I know you’re pumped!) Have any questions? Field them here! I’ll definitely do some research and incorporate it into any future blog posts.
Posted in Blog, Elections, India, Outsourced
Tagged bjp, Congress, election day, Elections, gotv, India, manmohan singh, maoist insurgents, mumbai, naxalite, Polls, sonia gandhi, Votes, voting booths
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Outsourced: The Pocket Handbook
Our democratic BFF in Asia, India, has finally announced the polling dates for the country’s upcoming elections: April 16, April 23, April 30, May 7, and May 13. Why the phased election? Holidays, festivals, possible monsoon weather, harvest season, and most importantly, school examinations. India’s elections will undoubtedly be intense — 714 million eligible voters? 4 million election workers? Oh, it’ll be glorious, you betcha.
Yeah, that’s right. India’s electronic.
As BBC tweeted this news to me, I realized I had no idea how the Indian government is structured. (Shame, isn’t it?) Still, with the Interweb at my fingertips, I decided to compile a little government guide (sans the judicial branch) for my benefit and yours becaues I didn’t want to study. (Yes, yes, I know. An educational blupdate. Exciting!) Read more and get informed!
Posted in Blog, Elections, India, Outsourced
Tagged bjp, democracy, drama, election day, Elections, India, lok sabha, manmohan singh, mayawati, monsoons, new delhi, Polls, pratibha patil, rajya sabha, sonia gandhi, voting
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states of corruption
“Which is the most corrupt state in the U.S.?” This is the question TIME.com proposed in its latest poll. Interestingly enough, the percentages are running pretty even. Given, the poll represents a very small portion of the population… but still, interesting to look at, especially in terms of regions of the U.S. Of course, the Midwest pretty much thinks Illinois takes the cake and there’s the odd “Alaska is corrupt!” in there, too. But what exactly is going down in Louisiana? I feel out of the loop. Is it because Louisiana has just faced major suckiness since Katrina (or before)? (Someone. Do enlighten me.) And I wonder why Wyoming is yellow.
Anyway, it caught my eye.
Posted in America, Blog, Polls
Tagged Alaska, Blagojevich, corruption, Illinois, louisiana, Polls, time
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Poll of the People. Stupid People.
A new CNN poll suggests that 6 out of 10 Americans believe that the Big Three should not be given any federal aid. This is a big change from a month ago when about half the country thought that a bailout wasd the way to go. Attributed to the bad press given to the execs from the Big Three for taking corporate jets to D.C in November. Other sad and silly stats.
- 24% of people also said that they would never feel the effects if the Big Three were to go under.
- 67% of people on the West Coast don’t support the bailout.
- 53% of people don’t think that helping the Big Three will help the U.S. economy.
Shocker Poll – Arizona in Play?
Two polls today show Obama within either a 5 or 4 points deficit of McCain… Remember how much it sucked that Al Gore lost his home state?
I do.
It sucked.
New Battleground List
FiveThirtyEight just released their latest (and last) list of battleground states:
Even if Obama loses all of these battleground states (assuming he wins those on the safer side of this list), he will still win 286-252. More good news for Obama! Granted, a LOT can happen in 19 days, and we can not let up an inch, but at this point it’s looking pretty good.
Posted in Barack Obama, Blog, Polls
Tagged 2008, 538, Barack, Battleground, Eight, election, Five, obama, Polls, States, Thirty
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I'm sorry…?
Obama, up by 2 points in North Dakota? NORTH DAKOTA? And this coming one month after he PULLED OUT OF THE STATE?!?
Now, with that being said, FiveThirtyEight doesn’t buy that ND will actually go to Obama, or that it’s a swing state at all.
Obama’s up 2, but our model isn’t buying that it’s a swing state.
We can debate the meaning of a swing state all day long, and we’ll just have to wait for a few more polls to come out before classifying it as a swing state.
You’ll notice, though, that this is the only poll from North Dakota in a month. Just a slight observation you should note.
Big Poll of the Day
Not so happy anymore…
From the Detroit Free Press…
Battleground Michigan may not be such a battleground after all, as the state’s voters increasingly see Barack Obama as the presidential candidate with the better answers for the nation’s economic ills.
Doubling his lead of a month ago, the Democratic presidential nominee now has an edge over his Republican rival John McCain, leading him 51%-38%, a Detroit Free Press-Local 4 Michigan Poll shows.The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The big lead is the result of widespread support among women and independents and a wide enthusiasm gap over his rival.
Both the Detroit News and Free Press polls have shown a huge leap in the polls for Barack Obama in Michigan. This may be evidence that they meltdown on Wall Street is hurting John McCain. This is what happens when you and your party are seen as key advocates for Wall Street, not Main Street.
Poll Dancing | What the Hell is McCain Thinking?
McCain must have thought that the nation would be enamored with his suggestion that the debate and the campaigns themselves be suspended, but early indications are that he was gravely wrong. From SurveyUSA:
Poll of the Day
![[Image]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CJ765_Quinn__NS_20080923084915.gif)
Somebody please tell me if these results are really that new. I found this poll here. From looking at the article, it looks like Barack Obama has made gains in Colorado since August, but that was a long time ago. Among other things, the Sarah Palin shenanigans have been playing out in that interval.