I noticed something quite disturbing when studying recent polling for elections around the country. Rasmussen Reports will include upwards of 6 or 7 candidates in the Democrat and Republican Primaries, sometimes with candidates that only receive 1% of the vote, yet when it comes to the General Election they will only include the two Democrat-Republican candidates despite there being sometime upwards of 3 or 4 other candidates from Third Party Nominations or Independent Nominations. This case is most present and most dangerous in a particular Governor’s election in Georgia, where the African-American Libertarian Candidate John Monds is left out of General Election polls despite having won 33.4% in a statewide election in 2008, and apparently the most likely winner of the 15- 20% of unaccounted votes in Rasmussen Polls.
The Following Images Reveal Irregularities in Rasmussen, and Mainstream, Polling Practices that have an obvious impact on the outcome of Elections and the ability for Third-Party and Independent Candidates to gain support and exposure
Georgia Gubernatorial Election
The Diversity of Candidates in Georgia Democrat Primary Poll
Carl Camon polled at 1-3%, yet remained referred to by Name in Rasmussen Polls.
Diversity of Candidates in Georgia Republican Primary Poll
In what would typically be considered a 3-way race, 2-4 additional candidates, all polling under 5% each, remained referred to by Name in Rasmussen Polls.
Exclusiveness of Candidates in Georgia General Election Poll
Yet, in recent polls with both Republican Nominees that are going into the Primary Run-Off Election, Libertarian, and African-American, Nominee is left off the Poll, despite upwards of 20% of the vote not going to either Democrat or Republican Candidate mentioned. Are these voters undecided or are they part of the 1,000,000 Georgian citizens who voted for John Monds as recently as November of 2008 for statewide office?
Where is John Monds?
The Same Tactic is being used against Green Party candidates as well as Libertarians. In the race to fill President Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, the Green Party Candidate, who has polled as high as 14% in official polls, is left off of Rasmussen Polls, and only “Other” is offered. LeAlan Jones is the only African-American running for this seat, and Roland Burris who has filled the seat in President Obama’s absent, and is not running for re-election, is the only African-American currently serving in the U.S. Senate.
In this series of Polls you can see the immediate and direct influence excluding LeAlan Jones‘ name from the read list has put his candidacy at a disadvantage. These Polls are then used to further influence the Election as the same way advertisements and propaganda are used to influence the consumer and voter.
South Carolina U.S. Senate Race
Where are LeAlan Jones and Tom Clements?
Despite most Democrat voters in South Carolina leaning away from their Candidate Alvin Greene, and the Green Party Candidate Tom Clements being the only other candidate on the ballot, Rasmussen still refuses to mention him by Name, and instead only offers “other.” It should be obvious the disadvantage that any candidate would receive if in Polls were not referred to by their Name.
Rasmussen has proven that they are willing and capable of reading more than 2 Names of candidates when conducting polls, and have shown willingness to include candidates that poll under 5%, yet almost exclusively in General Elections Rasmussen neglects mentioning more than the two Democrat-Republican Party candidates.
This does Two Major things:
- This influences elections in favor of Democrat-Republican candidates, in effect, subverting the Democratic Process. This Polling Technique undermines candidates that challenge the Democrat-Republican monopoly on Government, and reinforces the false dogma that only Democrat and Republican candidates can win. In conjunction with unbalanced ballot-registration laws, closed debates and the lack of Instant Run-Off voting, have effectively brought our “democratic system” in par with that of the U.S.S.R. or Communist China.
- It makes the poll invalid. This poll is not legit, because it is weighed in favor of specific candidates. It is not a scientific evaluation of public opinion, because it manipulates reaction by supplementing “other” for specific candidates names, and irregularly including and excluding candidates based on level of support; all in favor of the two-establishment parties. Rasmussen Reports are a fraud. They are not scientific polls, but instead are propaganda for special interests. Whether the organization is instructed or influenced into conducting its polls in this fashion, or do so on their own accord, these “Reports” are used to maintain exclusive power over government by two partner-private groups.
What You Can Do
UPDATE: Prior to a recent poll in which John Monds (L) was included in the list of ballot-qualified candidates for Governor of Georgia and received 5% of the vote (with 9% undecided), I had also stumbled upon a poll from the Georgia Education Alliance conducted in June that included Monds amongst 15 candidates. In this June poll, Monds received 12% of the vote.
As well, I was pleased to see a number of blogs referencing this article and hopefully helping pressure Monds’ inclusion on this recent poll and in future polls. Thanks to all of those who called into Rasmussen and let us hope they follow the lead of Channel 2 News and the call from internet writers to include John Monds, LeAlan Jones, Tom Clements and other third-party and independent candidates in their political polls.
Jack Wagner is the Editor of The Free Independent-Sun. Born in Sonoma, California and currently residing in San Francisco, Jack set up The Free Independent-Sun on July 4th, 2009, after sleeping in and not making his usual trip up north for his hometown festivities. He figured he'd do something revolutionary to make up for it. In the Summer of 2010 Jack registered Seraf Media with the City and County of San Francisco as a Sole-Proprietorship. He is dedicated to articulating the finer points of the Revolution in order to bring about a Global Renaissance and Abundant World Economy. He also isn't afraid to get his hands dirty transplanting succulents. 
Called up Rasmussen the other day, they asked me to submit an email with the subject “Candidate Suggestion” – if enough people do this we might be able to at least get these three candidates on future polls, which could increase their chances of winning (LeAlan Jones has a great chance of winning already), and in Clements’ case; at least place second above Alvin Greene.