GMO labeling on the Ballot in Oregon

[invisible]

Update...

[TD="class: candname"]Yes
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]752,163
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]49.96%
[/TD]

[TD="class: candname win"]No
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]753,239
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]50.04%
[/TD]

I suppose folks are seeing the pattern here as I update these numbers. Right?

Yes, and it's certainly interesting. Again, many thanks for your continued updates!

 

[Natural Citizen]

Yes, and it's certainly interesting. Again, many thanks for your continued updates!

You're welcome, invisible. I may not update again until the actual flip occurs. There is nothing practical in tinkering with fractions and it is possible that a flip has already occured. Don't know what is certified and what isn't at the moment.

 

[donnay]

Update...

[TD="class: candname"]Yes
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]752,163
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]49.96%
[/TD]

[TD="class: candname win"]No
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]753,239
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]50.04%
[/TD]

I suppose folks are seeing the pattern here as I update these numbers. Right?

Crystal clear. Thanks for keeping us posted.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Crystal clear. Thanks for keeping us posted.

Probably won't be until Moday sometime. I'll tell you what, donnay. I've learned A LOT during this particular citizens initiative. I mean, if you look at the $25 million these out of state corporations who don't want consumers to know what they are selling them actually goes toward when they throw that money to oppose the will of the people, and once you figure it out, you can knock them down like flies. Really. You can completely shut them down and literally undo all of the shady stuff like having the newspapers run interference for them in order to deter folks from remedying their contested ballots and that kind of thing. We kind of let the state-wide newspapers get ahead of us on this one but were able to figure out what they were doing there before the deadline. I wish we would have caught them earlier because there are still over 11,000 ballots that were challenged out there that will never be counted. But there are other things they do with those millions of dollars. Way more. And, you know, the information campaign that these chemical companies run is essentially irrelevant in the scheme of things. That's not what caused a roadblock. Nope. Not at all. If nothing else, this has been a phenomenal learning experience and I look forward to becoming involved in future projects. Pass or fail, they won't get away with that again. That's for sure.

Nearly 90 bills in 29 states addressing labeling have been introduced during 2014 alone.

 

[donnay]

Probably won't be until Moday sometime. I'll tell you what, donnay. I've learned A LOT during this particular citizens initiative. I mean, if you look at the $25 million these out of state corporations who don't want consumers to know what they are selling them actually goes toward when they throw that money to oppose the will of the people, and once you figure it out, you can knock them down like flies. Really. You can completely shut them down and literally undo all of the shady stuff like having the newspapers run interference for them in order to deter folks from remedying their contested ballots and that kind of thing. We kind of let the state-wide newspapers get ahead of us on this one but were able to figure out what they were doing there before the deadline. I wish we would have caught them earlier. But there are other things they do with those millions of dollars. Way more. And, you know, the information campaign that these chemical companies run is essentially irrelevant in the scheme of things. That's not what caused a roadblock. Nope. Not at all. If nothing else, this has been a phenomenal learning experience and I look forward to becoming involved in future projects. Pass or fail, they won't get away with that again. That's for sure.

Nearly 90 bills in 29 states addressing labeling have been introduced during 2014 alone.

Very true. It also brings awareness to the average citizen who didn't really think GMO's were an issue. I know more and more people who are watching for "No GMO Project Verified" when buying things in the grocery store.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Very true. It also brings awareness to the average citizen who didn't really think GMO's were an issue.

1,505,402 (and still counting) people turned out for this. Minus...minus...the progressives who really didn't show up but will absolutlely turn out in 2016 when it comes up again elsewhere. This thing set historic records.

A million and a half, donnay. You know, I get to chuckling sometimes when I read things where we talk about we need to reach out to this demographic or that one or we gotta do this or that. Some political factions have no idea what is coming because there is this illusion that everything functions or will function under their terms of controversy. Just....none. No idea. It's like la la land or something and the things that people really care about, they ignore. I don't know. I think the two party mindset is due to receive the humbling blow that it drastically needs. Counting seats instead of the issues is a fatal political mistake for these groups.

Do you remember what I was saying some time ago about the cymbals and the sleeping people? Well...someone is going to have a very startling wake up call in 2016 and forward. Is just a very predictable fact.

 

[angelatc]

Science is the realm of the globalist elite. He understands his own body better than anyone else. I thought all libertarians supported that principle. He's eaten organic all his life, we grew up on a farm out in Kansas. He was over at his friend's house and she gave him standard Wal-Mart vegetables, one week later and he's got Hep-B. I don't know whether the disease is actually implanted in the vegetables or not, but there is definitely some sort of relationship between the disease and GMOs.

Maybe he forgot to mention doing heroin with a needle he found under a hooker's dirty toilet seat. Totally understandable confusion.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Update...

[TD="class: candname"]Yes
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]752,329
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]49.97%
[/TD]

[TD="class: candname win"]No
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]753,328
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]50.03%
[/TD]

Was actually 49.98 to 50.02 just this morning. Should tighten up some more during the evening. A lot of ballots left to certify. Another 20 thousand or so...

 

[invisible]

Update...

[TD="class: candname"]Yes
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]752,329
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]49.97%
[/TD]

[TD="class: candname win"]No
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]753,328
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]50.03%
[/TD]

Was actually 49.8 to 50.2 just this morning. Should tighten up some more during the evening. A lot of ballots left to certify...

A real cliffhanger, for sure! Less than a thousand votes difference, at this point. You very well could be right that it will flip.

 

[Natural Citizen]

A real cliffhanger, for sure! Less than a thousand votes difference, at this point. You very well could be right that it will flip.

Lane is due in. That's a big one. It was within 700 or so earlier but we had some NO leaning counties report and so they picked up some slack. I think those are out of the way now.

I think it would have flipped a long time ago if the newspapers didn't call it defeated on election day. And, of course, everyone got free papers that week telling them not to bother because it already failed. Go figure. The editor literally said to those who questioned the action that "The outcome was already known". Can you believe that? And so there are over 11,000 challenged ballots that people never remedied because they bought the lie hook line and sinker. That's right. Part of that $25 million buys everyone a free newspaper so that they get a good dose of misinformation which leads them to assume that their vote won't do any good. Of course, the majority of those that were actually remedied have been overwhelmingly YES votes. And I still think they had some folks from NO ON 92 challenging those ballots. But it's a lesson learned pass or fail. Won't happen again.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Update...

[TD="class: candname"]Yes
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]752,664
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]49.97%
[/TD]

[TD="class: candname win"]No
[/TD]
[TD="class: candbar"][/TD]
[TD="class: candvote"]753,473
[/TD]
[TD="class: candpct"]50.03%
[/TD]

809...

 

[Natural Citizen]

I think that the previous update is going to be the final unofficial official count. So we have around an 800 vote difference with a recount coming. Recall that only one instance of the 1000 erroneous votes to YES were remedied. That should be caught during recount if it's monitored correctly. So it ought to be a hoot. Moving forward. We'll see this again...

 

[donnay]

Too close to call: Oregon's GMO-labeling initiative gets automatic recount

Tuesday, November 25, 2014
by: Julie Wilson

Just as we predicted, the mainstream media announced Oregon's GMO-labeling initiative as defeated prior to counting all the votes, a suspicious move considering the measure was trailing just 49 to 51 percent on the evening of voting day.

Measure 92, an initiative that would require genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to be labeled, excluding alcohol or restaurant-prepared food, would go into effect January 2016 if passed.

Portland's KPTV reports that Measure 92 was initially "too close to call on election night," but the following morning FOX 12 political analyst Tim Hibbitts projected that the initiative would fail.

However, recent analysis shows that the ballot returns have a margin of fewer than 1,500 votes between those in favor and those opposed to GMO labeling, meaning an automatic recount is in store for Oregonians!

At least 13,00 ballots with signature errors not included in GMO-labeling race

An automatic recount occurs when the difference between the "yes" and "no" votes is 0.2 percent of the total number of votes cast. In this case, the difference is 0.1 percent, placing the ballot measure up for an automatic recount, according to a November 20 report by KPTV.

"The only thing I'm certain about right now is there will be a recount," said Hibbitts. "The margin of error is 3,000. I'm completely comfortable it's going to be way inside of that; we are going to go to a recount."

After analyzing the final election returns released by 15 counties on November 19, Hibbitts noticed a trend that included higher percentages of "yes" votes compared to previous returns.

The discovery follows "Yes on 92" campaign efforts that reached out to 13,000 voters whose ballots had errors, including signature problems. These ballots had not been considered in the original vote, reports KPTV, a huge factor in a race with just a difference of 1,500 votes.

For the first time this year, Oregon's Secretary of State released the names of contested ballots, a move that could make the race even closer, predicts Hibbitts.

"Officials in Multnomah, Lane and Deschutes counties are still counting more than 13,000 ballots that were initially rejected for issues like signatures that didn't match, so that margin could still narrow some," confirms FOX 12.

Measure 92 was the costliest initiative on this year's ballot, breaking Oregon state records in terms of campaign spending. More than $25 million was funneled into the battle over whether or not to label GMOs, a proposal that's trending in popularity across the nation, as consumers demand to know what's in their food.

More than $12 million was spent by the biotech industry fighting the measure, with Monsanto alone dumping more than $8 million toward fighting labeling initiatives in Oregon and Colorado.

Kraft Foods, Land O' Lakes and Kellogg's also contributed ginormous amounts to strip consumers of their Right to Know. However, other companies sought to do the right, with Dr. Bronner's donating nearly $300,000 in support of GMO labeling.

If Measure 92 passes, Oregon will become the first state to enact a voter-approved GMO-labeling law, as reported by Natural News. The Vermont legislature victoriously passed a similar proposal last spring, but is now being sued by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), a.k.a. Big Food's mouthpiece.

Truthful recount could mean victory for the Right to Know movement

If the recount is done truthfully, it's very likely that GMO labeling will pass in Oregon, as polls in all states considering similar proposals show overwhelming public support for labeling.

The dangers of GMOs are so substantial that even the biotech industry couldn't prevent the truth from reaching the masses; in fact, an independent, non-biased study on the safety of GMOs and their associated pesticides in set to launch early 2015.

"Factor GMO" will be the first long-term study to monitor the effects of 6,000 lab rats fed GMO corn over a three-year period.

Sources:

http://www.kptv.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://factorgmo.com

http://truthwiki.org/GMO_Dangers,_opinion

http://truthwiki.org/Genetically_modified_cr...

http://www.naturalnews.com/047787_GMO_labeling_automatic_recount_Oregon.html#ixzz3K5uqYAeb

 

[Natural Citizen]

Oregon's GMO Labeling Vote Rises From the Dead: Statewide Recount Coming...

Dr. Michael Hansen, scientist with the Consumer’s Union, stated in a phone interview today, “Given what our country witnessed in Florida [in the last Presidential election], with ‘hanging chads,’ etc., it is crucial to have trained legal experts and observers in all key counties during a recount. The State of Oregon funds the recount, but to make sure there is no funny business (from the opposing side), both sides will have election watchers being part of the observation process. You have to have folks from both sides observing the recount, and luckily the state allows observers to oversee very closely.”

Referring to the media calling the initiative ‘defeated,’ Hansen noted, “It just wasn’t so. The close call had a gap that narrowed substantially, in part by a tremendous effort by the campaign for seven days after the election ended. They took phone numbers in counties and tracked down the voters to correct their contested ballots.” The night of the election, the gap was at approximately 20,000+ votes between Yes/No and yet narrowed to 812 votes on the final tally this week.”

Explaining how a recount could unleash more votes in favor of GMO labeling, Hansen stated, “Lawyers have advised the Yes campaign that there are such a small number of votes possible to win, that the areas of unclear ballots could also give the Yes campaign a victory in the end after a recount. Examples of unclear ballots are the optical reader not reading it accurately, where observers will see that the intent is clear but read by ballot machines differently (with erasures then re-voting, or x marking out wrong vote, and circling the actual vote the voter intended). In addition, in some cases, an erasure vote will cause the vote to be counted as both Yes and No. It is very possible that this can be turned around and be a victory for GMO labeling requirements.”

Hansen further pointed out that the Yes campaign wants mostly lawyers to serve as their observers due to their expertise, stating, “Over the Thanksgiving weekend, there will probably be lawyers training observers, so they are up to speed to be a good ballot observer when the recount begins.”

A hand-tally recount of all the statewide ballots will be formally triggered immediately after Secretary of State Kate Brown posts the numbers officially certifying the election results by December 4th. The margin is now .06%, well under the 0.2 % needed for a recount. An announcement is expected December 1st.

Continued - Oregon's GMO Labeling Vote Rises From the Dead: Statewide Recount Coming

 

[Natural Citizen]

Update...

All counties continue to recount. Expected completion is on or about Friday, December 12th.

Note - Recount observers for the Monsanto backed No on 92 campaign have been thrown out of at least three recount sites. Observers must be residents of Oregon. They were not. We all know why. Right?

Also...big news coming. Maybe tonight. Will see.

Relevant reading - post #151.

Beyond that. It is a wonderful thing to see people, regardless of whether or not one agrees or disagrees with them, learn how to function and become productive within the legal/political infrastructure of these campaigns. If nothing else, that is a monumental victory in itself as these citizens initiatives (regardless of subject) evolve. Some of these people had a very short period of time to learn the legal infrastructure of things like this and have picked up the tools to have an impact in the hera nd now as well as moving forward. Success is a given in that regard.

Here is why...

 

[invisible]

Update...

All counties continue to recount. Expected completion is on or about Friday, December 12th.

Note - Recount observers for the Monsanto backed No on 92 coalition have been thrown out of at least three recount sites. Observers must be residents of Oregon. They were not.

Big news coming. Maybe tonight...

Relevant reading - post #151.

Beyond that. It is a wonderful thing to see people, regardless of whether or not one agrees or disagrees with them, learn how to function and become productive within the legal/political infrastructure of these campaigns. If nothing else, that is a monumental victory as these citizens initiatives (regardless of subject) evolve. Some of these people had a very short period of time to learn the legal infrastructure of things like this.

Here is why...

Why would any big news on this come so far before the 12th?

Yes, and sadly that learning curve can be difficult to complete in the necessary timeframe, and it is absolutely crucial. This was a hard lesson learned in OK, with trying to get legal MJ on the ballot. The number of signatures obtained would have barely been enough to do it, but a bunch of them got thrown out because some of the organizers didn't understand the requirements enough to follow them to a T. It'll be tried again, next time with the organizers having learned through experience what not to do.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Why would any big news on this come so far before the 12th?

Yes, and sadly that learning curve can be difficult to complete in the necessary timeframe, and it is absolutely crucial. This was a hard lesson learned in OK, with trying to get legal MJ on the ballot. The number of signatures obtained would have barely been enough to do it, but a bunch of them got thrown out because some of the organizers didn't understand the requirements enough to follow them to a T. It'll be tried again, next time with the organizers having learned through experience what not to do.

What I did there was type over the news coming part, invisible. That was the first thing that I had typed but it ended up stuck there in the middle. The fact that these out of state industries who opposed the Oregon citizens initiative couldn't get people in Oregon to go through the process and then monitor the recount on their mercantilist behalf was huge and speaks volumes as to the opposition body to the intiative itself. And then to catch them participating in the process in this illegal manner was a win for those people in Oregon. And I think, but not exactly sure yet, that there are some other counties where it happened. But you know that only a little over 400 ballots need to be flipped. Right?

 

[invisible]

Yes, you had said that earlier in the thread. I wonder if them doing something illegal gives legal ammo to the "yes" effort, in the instance of this going to a lawsuit? Or perhaps used to throw out "no" votes in those counties? Yes, it's a win, but a legal win would be even better than just the moral win.

 

[donnay]

Monsanto Pulling Illegal Vote Counters Into Oregon GMO Recount?

Monsanto Pulling Illegal Vote Counters Into Oregon GMO Recount?
Monsanto Caught 'Playing Dirty'

by Christina Sarich | December 4, 2014
http://naturalsociety.com/monsanto-pulling-illegal-vote-counters-oregon-gmo-recount/


At least three counties have thrown out election observers which Monsanto and their cronies flew into Oregon to influence the current recount of votes for Measure 92 to label genetically modified foods.

According to Oregon law, only registered voters can serve as recount observers. In at least 3 counties, Monsanto’s out of state political operatives have been forced to leave the recount room. Who knows what other shady tactics they have employed.

The law requires all election observers to be from within the state. As of this writing, there are only 812 votes between the ‘No’ and ‘Yes’ sides of the labeling debate in Oregon. More than 3000 outstanding ballots had to be chased down and clarified for the recount. More than 1.5 million ballots had to be counted by hand starting last Tuesday, and workers have until December 12 to finish the recount, though some counties are expected to finish earlier.

In 22 statewide recounts around the U.S. since 2000, the average shift was only 0.03 percentage point, according to FairVote, a Maryland-based advocacy group. But this election seems to be following a different trend. The initial difference of 812 votes out of 1.5 million is already suspect, and many of the contested votes have fallen on the ‘yes to label’ side. Long-time KGW political analyst Len Bergstein now says that he believes the YES side will be victorious!

Oregon’s GMO labeling Measure 92 was originally reported defeated thanks to Monsanto’s onslaught of more than $22 million dollars in negative ads. But the measure is still alive.

If you want to ensure that Monsanto doesn’t win again with their funny money and manipulative political tactics, you can contribute by chipping in to the Yes on 92 Emergency Recount Response Fund to help us make sure every vote is recounted fairly and accurately.

Even if the YES to label wins, you can bet Monsanto and the GMA will sue Oregon just as they have in Vermont and Hawaii, but at least they will have to launch multiple lawsuits at once. If we keep adding the pressure, at some point they have to surrender. Keep it up!

 

[Natural Citizen]

...they will have to launch multiple lawsuits at once.

This is what we need to happen.