MetaFilter posts tagged with election

Allah-o-Akbar

homunculus — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:36:22 -0800

Iran: The Rooftop Project. "This is meant to be the most complete possible collection of recordings of nighttime protest in Iran since the beginning of the uprising. Its goal is to locate and profile at least one video for each night primarily focusing on the nightly chanting of Allah-o-Akbar from the rooftops, whenever that footage is available. Some of these videos have not been widely seen until now." [Via]

The Tragic Face of the Iranian Revolution

orville sash — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:18:30 -0800

Disturbing video of a young Iranian woman shot and dying in the streets of Tehran has surfaced on the internet (extremely graphic, NSFW, requires youtube login). Known only as "Neda" in the video, she has been identified by subsequent reports as a 16-year-old student named Neda Soltani. Supporters of the Iranian opposition are saying that she is the face of the struggle, and that this video galvanizes the opposition movement. As of this writing, the authenticity of the video has not been conclusively determined, and a small but vocal minority on the internet are decrying it as a fake.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

orville sash — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:34:16 -0800

Ahmedinejad is declared victor in Iran presidential race. In spite of skepticism on the behalf of (among others) the Obama Administration, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday told all Iranians to respect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory.

Hate Wins

chuckdarwin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:40:42 -0800

The far-right, whites-only British National Party (BNP) has won two seats (Andrew Brons, Nick Griffin) in the European Parliament. According to its constitution, the BNP is "committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948." The BNP also proposes "firm but voluntary incentives for immigrants and their descendants to return home."

I have here in my hand a list...

msalt — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:53:59 -0800

40 million Iranians watched a "remarkable, no-holds-barred" and nationally televised debate between President Ahmadinejad (blog) and his rival, former Prime Minister Mousavi (Facebook). Mousavi said Ahmadinejad was moving toward dictatorship, and that his Holocaust denial had hurt Iran's dignity; the President said Mousavi had conspired with former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Khatami against him. Ahmadinejad then pulled out a dossier on Mousavi's wife, saying she didn't have proper qualifications for graduate school. Mousavi replied "This is typical of your government. Instead of finding solutions, you send your deputies to make files on the people." The election is June 12th. There will be several more debates among other candidates including Ahmadinejad, Mohsen Rezai and Mehdi Karroubi . This all raises the bigger question: how democratic is Iran? Radio Free Europe says "Less than Iraq." DilbertBlog says "As much as America is." The Guardian says "Complicated."

No freedom without Solidarity

orrnyereg — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:12:49 -0800

June 4, 2009 marks 20 years since Poland's first semi-free election under Communism. The election marked the beginning of the end for Polish Communism with its overwhelming mandate for the pro-democracy movement, Solidarity. Today, the world recognizes Poland's accomplishment.

EU Profiler

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:37:40 -0800

EU Profiler: the authors of Kieskompas, a "Vote-O-Mat"-style tool for the undecided Dutch voter, following up on their adaptation for the US Presidential election (previously on MeFi), will launch an EU-wide version for the European Parliament elections upcoming in June. So Europeans, urge your political parties to register! The tool itself will launch in May.

Election Fraud in Kentucky

chunking express — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:20:10 -0800

Election Fraud in Kentucky. "I think this is the first documented case of election fraud in the U.S. using electronic voting machines (there have been lots of documented cases of errors and voting problems, but this one involves actual maliciousness)."

Can we dare call it stolen, yet?

FatherDagon — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:10:06 -0800

Diebold accidentally releases GEMS software with "Steal Election" button intact.

AN ACT concerning campaign finance; pertaining to unitemized contributions.

anastasiav — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:40:25 -0800

Metafilter's Own Sean Tevis ran for the Kansas State Legislature using the web as his main fund raising tool. His fund raising was spectacularly successful, raising in excess of $100,000 -- over 70% of which was in amounts lower than $50.00. The Republicans criticized this tactics, and he lost. Although he took no PAC or Lobbyist contributions, some in Kansas politics feel that he's not been transparent enough about who gave to him, so Republican Scott Schwab has introduced LD 2244 (.pdf) - informally known as the Sean Tevis Bill. Currently, the law says that candidates are not required to report any personal information on donors who gave under $50.00. The proposed law would require candidates to report personal information on donors who gave any amount (including one cent) but only if that candidate raised over $1000 in small contributions.

He may be a son-of-a-bitch, but he is our son-of-a-bitch

adamvasco — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:05:46 -0800

US meddling in Kenyan elections:
An exit poll, if it had been released in a timely manner, could have altered the result of Kenya's presidential election in 2007 and prevented the deaths of many people there, say people involved in the U.S. backed effort.
It is suggested that Michael E. Ranneberger US ambassador to Kenya was meddling in Kenya's Elections, playing down the corruption of Mwai Kibaki's government.
More than 1,000 people died and 304,000 displaced.
Related Metafiler threads on the 2007 Kenya election . 1, 2, 3 , 4

Mr. Geoghegan Goes to Washington

kliuless — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:44:52 -0800

Perhaps something of an oddity in Chicago machine politics [I like to think in the spirit of Sean Tevis] Tom Geoghegan (pronounced "gay-gun") is running in a special election -- primary March 3rd and (hope me :) general April 7th -- for Rahm Emanuel's vacated 5th district Illinois seat. Kathy G. describes the campaign thusly:

What does his entry into this race feel like? Well, to start, think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Like the iconic character played by Jimmy Stewart in that film, Tom is a tall, gangly political outsider, and he has every bit of Jefferson Smith's indefatigable idealism and rock-solid integrity. Only, there's a twist -- this Mr. Smith is no blushing innocent. Tom is a Mr. Smith who's kicked around the big city for a couple of decades and has become all too familiar with the ways of the world. Sadder maybe, in some ways, but also savvier, and wiser. And yet still utterly driven and consumed by a burning desire to make the world a better place.

James Fallows, Cosma Shalizi and Thomas Frank also heartily endorse (and <3) Geoghegan. You can follow Kathy G.'s efforts to help get him elected here. [note: if you're suffering from déjà vu this is a repost per jessamyn's helpful (and appreciated!) suggestions]

Obamicon

zinfandel — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:43:11 -0800

ObamiconMe. Remake your image in a style inspired by Shepard Fairey's election poster. via

Nightmare Motel

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:05:24 -0800

The Faubus Motel: Possibly the Worst Motel in America

The Truth about the Election

wittgenstein — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:49:36 -0800

NYRB-filter: The Truth About The Election by Elizabeth Drew

You be the [election] judge

Saucy Intruder — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:53:44 -0800

You be the [election] judge. View and vote on six hundred challenged Minnesota ballots. Each is accompanied by a link to a PDF of the full ballot with the name of the challenging candidate and the reason for the challenge. (registration required) via fivethirtyeight.com

The Black President

Tom-B — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:20:41 -0800

A 1926 Brazilian sci-fi novel predicts a U.S. election determined by race and gender. O Presidente Negro envisions the 2228 U.S. presidential election. In that race, the white male incumbent, President Kerlog, finds himself running against Evelyn Astor, a white feminist, and James Roy Wilde, the cultivated and brilliant leader of the Black Association, "a man who is more than just a single man ... what we call a leader of the masses."

The Moose Stops Here

you just lost the game — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:58:56 -0800

The conservative (post-election) Crack-Up. In the wake of their recent defeats, many American conservatives have formed a circular firing squad, with some arguing that the GOP needs a little less GOD, while others say it's just a matter of returning to their roots. At this point, it looks like the party is headed for civil war and electoral disaster. Democrats and liberals may be enjoying the show these days, but what does the future hold for the GOP? (Previously.) It should be added that some people saw this coming.

Scientists Determine the Fishiest Election Ever (LiveScience)

bondgirl53001 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:56:45 -0800

Scientists make fish "vote" by having them choose an artificial fish to follow. Shocker: There's not a lot of individual decision-making.. I always did say some people are as intelligent as fish..

Coming to a town near you... Prop 8 Protests

Glibpaxman — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:14:56 -0800

Proposition 8. Saddened? Curious? Outraged? Happy? Dont Care? On Saturday, November 15 in every state across America and even in cities worldwide there will be a day of action. The response has been so overwhelming the website organizers needed to open up a sister website to handle to traffic overload. In many cases, police are being updated repeatedly by event coordinators with exponential expectations for attendees. A taste of the action: Alabama, California, Texas, Iowa, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Washington DC, International

Analysis: People all over the world love counting!

aftermarketradio — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:48:24 -0800

Video blog of people's reactions around the world to the 2008 CNN presidential countdown.

The End of an Era?

912 Greens — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:12:33 -0800

According to political scientist Wayne Parent, “The South has moved from being the center of the political universe to being an outside player in presidential politics.” Are we finally seeing the end of Nixon's infamous Southern Strategy? For years Republicans have depended on the region to win elections. Some now argue that the G.O.P. has "transformed itself from the Party of Lincoln into the Party of the Old Confederacy." In any case, playing to racism and resentment [PDF] isn't as effective as it used to be. Furthermore, many Republicans have publicly disowned such tactics.

Something's fishy in this state, too

flotson — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:22:39 -0800

Very, er, unusual voting results in Alaska. This Huffington Post article describes seriously, seriously fishy results in Tuesday's election in Alaska. The Alaska Division of Elections is reporting the lowest voter turnout in Alaska's history, for one. (Despite, for example, large increases in voter registration, primary voting, and the largest ever turnout of early voters.)

Time's Person of the Year?

gman — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:42:36 -0800

Celebrated Yup'ik Iron Dog snowmobiler and father of five, Todd, has had an illustrious career in the oil and fishing industries. Now that his latest aspirations have been dashed, what will this well dressed man do now? (18 links)

And he won by thirteen points.

tractorfeed — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:24:10 -0800

The recent election season in the US was marked by many firsts. One you might not know about: Silverton, Oregon has elected Stu Rasmussen as their mayor. Stu is believed to be the first ever openly transgender mayor in the United States.