Don't You Make My Red States Blue

It's April Fool's Day but this is serious. Remember that little discrepancy between the exit polls and the official tally last November? Well, according to a new study by statisticians, it was the biggest discrepancy in the poll's history—closer to the discrepancy in the rigged election in Ukraine. And the chances of it being due to Kerry supporters being chummier with pollsters, a major issue the report addresses, are a million to one. The report concludes that

The many anecdotal reports of voting irregularities create a context in which the possibility that the overall vote count was substantially corrupted must be taken seriously. The hypothesis that exit polls accurately reflected the will of the people and the official tally is in error is a theory with some support in the Edison/Mitofsky data, while the same data casts doubt on the opposing hypothesis (that more Kerry supporters than Bush supporters cooperated with the pollsters). A thorough investigation and careful, exhaustive recount in key states would be an appropriate response.

(Via Democratic Underground.)

Read the

• Story
• Report
• Executive summary
• Hitchens' piece on 2004 election anomalies