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Did Ron Paul Win The Louisiana Caucus?
Complications and botched ballots have led many to believe
that the Congressman actually came out as the top candidate
on Tuesday
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UPDATE: Please note that Rebecca Healy, who appears on the
Pro Life ballot below, has contacted us and asked us to make it
clear that though "McCain" was written next to her name
she was on the Pro life ballot only and does not in any way endorse
John McCain. There are however other names that were printed on
multiple ballots, the reason we display them here as we received
them.
Libertarian commentators and Ron Paul supporters,
as well as the campaign itself, are suggesting that the thorough
botching of the election process during the Louisiana caucus last
Tuesday may have robbed the Texas Congressman of his first victory
in the race for the 2008 presidency.
The Ron Paul campaign issued
a statement yesterday charging the Louisiana GOP
with failure to properly determine voter eligibility, and calling
on the LAGOP to count all the ballots submitted in the caucus:
“The failure of the Louisiana GOP to properly
determine who was and wasn’t eligible to vote threw this
entire process into disarray,” said Ron Paul campaign manager
Lew Moore. “The party needs to correct this mistake by counting
all the votes immediately, and releasing the results.”
The LAGOP
released "preliminary" results of the caucus on Late
Wednesday with a carefully worded press release staing that "Delegate
candidates endorsed by US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) appear
to have won more state convention delegate positions than any
other presidential slate at the Louisiana Caucuses."
This gave the impression that McCain won the caucus
with Paul in second. But as the party then had to explain, due
to its own mistakes, some 500-650 voters over five different districts
were forced to file provisional ballots which could change the
outcome of the entire election.
(Article continues below)
As the Ron Paul campaign statement makes clear,
party officials admitted that caucus locations relied on a voter
list dating from November 1, 2007 despite the fact that under
caucus rules, voters had until November 30, 2007 to register as
Republicans. The Louisiana Secretary of State reported that a
huge 2,709 Louisiana residents registered as Republican between
November 1, 2007 and November 30, 2007.
Many Ron Paul supporters had not changed parties
by the 1st but had done so by the 30th deadline.
This also meant that many state-certified Ron Paul delegates
that were on the ballot were forced to file a provisional ballot
despite the fact they were pre-approved as delegates.
To add insult to injury, the LAGOP also changed the extremely
complicated rules at the last minute to allow other
candidates to file more delegates. The original deadline for filing
delegates was January 10 and at that time Ron Paul had the largest
number pledged to him. The party then changed the rules to give
other candidates two more days to file delegates.
It is still unknown how many delegates Ron Paul has won (it is
rumored to be between five and ten) but the 500-650 provisional
ballots could swing another 20 or so national delegates Ron Paul's
way. Somewhere in the region of 30 delegates out of Louisiana
would put the Congressman in second or third nationwide, meaning
the caucus has a massive significance.
Also of significance is the fact that McCain did not actually
"win" the caucus. The "Reagan delegate slate",
otherwise known as the "Pro-Life/Pro-Family delegate slate"
won the majority of all delegates -- all of whom are uncommitted
to any candidate, which is a
story in itself.
A party source from one of the precincts in Louisiana has also
stated that more than a few of his acquaintances were actually
recorded for more than one candidate. Some were on handbills for
McCain, Romney, and Uncommitted. This overlap can be seen on the
following handbills featuring the various "slates."
There are also rumors circulating that some people on the McCain
ticket didn’t even know they were on it and claim they don’t
support McCain.
All this combined with the fiasco over the provisional ballots
means that to declare McCain the frontrunner in Louisiana is a
bizarre move given the amount of votes that still need to be tallied
and questions that still need to be answered there.
Given that there are 105 delegates and McCain did not win the
majority and there are still another 20 or so up for grabs from
provisional ballots, if Ron Paul could total 25 and the Pro-Life/Pro-Family
delegate slate won over 55 then Ron Paul could have tied or even
won the Caucus.
This is why the Paul campaign is so disgruntled with the events
of the last 48 hours concerning Louisiana, and so should be the
voters there given that their election process is clearly festooned
in bureaucracy and general confusion.
Of course, if we do see a significant swing when
the results are officially announced it will matter little to
a mainstream media that was both too lazy and too inept to report
on the caucus in any depth in the first place.
Despite the Louisiana Republican Party having provisionally
declared Ron Paul the number two candidate in the state yesterday,
the corporate media virtually
ignored the announcement.
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INFOWARS:
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