"... It is all perfectly democratic.." Anuund Hyallnd
In the runup to the 2018 Maine Elections RCV played a major part in the public discussion. PAC's were formed and money poured in to grease the wheels to adopt RCV. Action Now Initiative was formidable in supplying the grease.
ANI was created by Hedge Fund manager, former Enron employee and the guy who hosted a $10,000 a plate fundraiser for Obama John Arnold. The ballotpedia.org site lists all ANI has backed including the 2016 Maine RCV ballot question and the 2018 repeal of the delay referendum in the same state. However ANI could not just walk into Maine and start writing checks so a second PAC was created locally to launder..err.. fund RCV in Maine.
Enter The Chamberlin Project.
CP was headed up by Cara McCormick who worked as a consultant and researcher for the firm Smart Campaigns (more on them later). McCormick and Smart Campaigns supported such illustrious candidates as Charles Robb (D-VA), John Kerry (D-MA), Deval Patrick (D-MA), Joe Biden (D-Del) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).
Notice a pattern here?
The CP PAC was formed in 2016 to support (cough) Maine's Rank Choice Ballot Initiative. The Chamberlin Project received $50,000 from ANI's John Arnold.
Only, a funny thing happened on the way to the polls.
Maine's Supreme Court put a stay on adopting RCV for the 2018 elections citing conflicts with it's own Constitution that clearly uses the language of 'plurality' in voting. But never let a pesky Constitution get in the way of subverting a state's electoral process. In fact, the Maine Legislature passed a bill that would kill RCV if a Constitutional Amendment WASN'T passed by 2021 allowing for the change in the language.
So The Chamberlin Project went shopping for benefactors to fund a petition initiative to overturn the Supreme Court decision. ANI coughed up another $460,000 along with Jonathan Soros (surprise-surprise) who wrote a check for another $100,000. Evan Falchuk, Fair Vote, Nathan James Lockwood are in the runner up catagory for donations. The list is tabulated on the site below.
https://bangordailynews.com/2018/06/08/politics/whos-paying-to-convince-mainers-that-ranked-choice-voting-suits-them/
As of 2016 (according to a simple Google search) Maine had over 996,000 registered voters. Numbers were unavailable as to how many signed the petition to repeal the Legislative law and Supreme Court decision but as most petitions go it never takes much.
This demands some interesting questions: If RCV is so Star Spangled Banner then why all the money to repeal a duly voted upon legislative ruling to delay such an awesome idea until the language in the State Constitution was changed? If the 'people' you claim should have a bigger voice then why not let the State Constitution and Rule of Law play out? Who knows? It might swing in your favor!
Maine RCV Adovcates needed a win. It needed to show that RCV is not only effective. RCV can change an entire state to blue. Why did they need this win?
Because also in 2018 RCV made several unsuccessful attempts to change the election process in British Columbia Canada. This, from Fairvote.org 12/18.
"..It might be a cliche, but there’s a reason "the devil you know’" has become such a common proverbial phrase - it’s true.
It was for voters in British Columbia, who decided to stick with the familiar devil, or in this case, voting system. Just over 61 percent of the 1.39 million people who voted preferred the Canadian province’s existing, winner-take-all election system over a form of fair representation, according to referendum results announced Thursday..."
https://www.fairvote.org/british_columbia_referendum_highlights_the_challenges_of_change
..Oh, it gets better!
According to the article the way the 'referendum' was worded and listed voters had to rank three choices in order to decide if they wanted RCV or not. Instead of a simple 'yes' or 'no' (as referendums are normally voted upon);
"....voters who favored an alternative system were asked to rank their choices,.."
....RCV rigged the referendum into.. uhh.. RCV..
Well, as Hylland said in the last segment; ".. it's all perfectly democratic..." And, yes it was. 61% of the 1.39 million registered voters in BC voted democratically NOT to adopt RCV. Despite that, advocates of RCV 'ranked' the votes anyways to a dismal 39%. This did not sit well with author Nancy Levin of Fairvote.org.
"...Reform proponents expressed disappointment at the outcome, while also acknowledging the educational challenges of achieving fair representation through a complex ballot measure...."
Either the voters of Britsh Columbia are too stupid to understand RCV or maybe, just maybe the voters of BC saw this shell game for what it is.
"...Bill Tieleman, of the No Proportional Representation Society, said he was pleased with the results.
"We said from the beginning of this campaign that proportional representation is.... a big risk for British Columbia to consider, and voters overwhelmingly agreed," he said. "Not only did they overwhelmingly agree, they did it for the second time in nine years."
In an article by Nick Eagland of the Vancouver Sun he writes how The Greens Party pushed and politicized RCV;
".. promised... on electoral reform during the 2017 election Premier John Horgan along with Green Leader Andrew Weaver, supported proportional representation. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson argued the referendum was too politically driven.
"This referendum was held because we believe that this decision needed to be up to people, not politicians," Horgan said in a statement. "While many people, myself included, are disappointed in the outcome, we respect people’s decisions."..."
"Today we saw the power of democracy as millions of British Columbians sent a clear message to... the Greens that their self-serving referendum was not going to be tolerated," Wilkinson said.
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-s-electoral-reform-referendum-results-to-be-released-at-230-p-m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0MvRZiWrZo
Now, the Greens Party is not a Johnny Come-Lately. This is a heavily funded and organized Leftist party. The ten cities of the US where RCV has had a foothold for many years are all Democrat controlled; San Fran, Minneapolis and Cambridge to name a few. RCV isn't working towards a better and fairer election system they are working hand in hand with Leftist parties to ensure a Leftist hegemony wherever they show up getting the lion's share of donations from Democrat leaning activists like Soros and Arnold. RCV certainly does not try the grassroots method by winning on the merits of a good idea. It couldn't even stick to a simple 'yes' or 'no' referendum! It teamed up with powerful Democrat leaning parties in Canada to fund a self serving coup of a Province's election system just as it petitioned and overturned Maine's Supreme Court and Legislature.
In the Youtube video above Maria Dobrinskaya and Bill Tieleman debate the BC referendum. In the opening statements Tieleman makes the case for Italy under proportional representation of 65 forms of government in 70 years. How the hell is this a stable form of elections?
Our Founders were very insistant upon NOT adopting any form of Democracy because of the very thing Tieleman describes. Our Founders rejected European style representation because of this very problem. Dobrinskaya uses words like 'outdated' to bolster her position and how the Canadian system is a hold over from Colonial England.
.... Ya know folks! I grew up with the same refrigerator until I was 20. It was old and outdated. It ran fine, never had to fix it, yes, I wish it had more room (representation) but it never failed me. Eventually my brothers, sister, mother, wife all debated and ranked their votes to buy a new one.
.... One year later it broke down.... Guess who ended up paying for the repair? Guess who pays for a fractured government?
Smart Campaigns
SC is basically a consulting firm. It hires itself out to campaigns and businesses alike.
http://smartcampaignsca.com/
One of its 'Principals' is John Regan;
John Regan
John manages the California office and oversees all of its business operations, client management and research efforts. John specializes in opposition research..."
Ole' John Boy specializes in this! Ya' know? The very same thing that started the whole Trump/Collusion investigation! The website goes on to explain "How" they help campaigns.
They gather information via public records. Great! If information is 'public' then why do I need to pay a consulting firm to find it?
We review new and traditional media sources, analyze results and summarize the themes, facts and other information relevant to the client’s interests
We specialize in the collection and analysis of public records.... civil and criminal court filings, federal bankruptcies, property transactions and ownership, tax liens and payment histories, civil judgments, military records and voter registration and voter histories. We utilize an extensive network of public records databases..."
Why is your lead researcher a specialist in opposition research? Also: Who and Why the fuck is any one recording my private voter information?
Founded in 1992, Smart Campaigns provides strategic research, due diligence, vulnerability assessment reports and consulting services to political campaigns...."
"...Our clients include a diverse array of business, labor, legal and non-profit organizations..."
SC was formed during the 1992 Presidential Election. What was going on then during that campaign?
The Clinton scandals. The Bimbo allegations. Opposition Research was born.
The second player in SC is Cara McCormick from The Chamberlin Project. She just happens to live in Maine. How convenient!
McCormick, a key player in Smart Campaigns. Regan as opposition research. Funding from a Hedge Fund manager and Obama supporter. Launder money via PAC's to overturn a State SC decision AND Legislature. And in 2018 claim RCV in Maine as a more Democratic.. More representative.. More open system of elections.
British Columbia said no to the shell game.
Rank Choice Voting is none of the things it claim's to be. It is a Trogan Horse.
Follow the money..
....And That Is The Diatribe....
