Berlusconi recount call after cliffhanger

[entanglement]

"PRIME Minister Silvio Berlusconi demanded a recount of votes in Italy's election last night after losing office to left-wing rival Romano Prodi in a photo finish.
Mr Prodi, who claimed victory before the result was clear, won the lower house by 25,224 votes out of more than 38 million votes cast - a majority of 0.01 per cent. "

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18790411-2703,00.html

:rofl:

[Missy M]

1. Is he using James Baker to head the recount effort?

[ramapo]

2. What is wrong in Italy?

Why did so many vote to keep this crook in office?

[sidpleasant]

6. He kept calling the center - left coalition "communists"

The fat degenerate owns or controls all the TV networks in Italy. He's spent the last couple of months monopolizing the airwaves with scary b.s. about how voting for the opposition would mean turning the country over to Commies.

[leesa]

7. Same scam they ran here. the right wing owns the media, the polling

companies, the voting companies, etc. I'm sure they used every trick in the book to steal votes, discourage voting, whatever they could. Also, RW articles like this which would put it neck and neck at all times so the theft is not so apparent.

[damntexdem]

10. What a compliment to the United States:

now they're emulating us in their electoral politics. ;-)

[AllieB]

12. Voting machines

It was Italy's first election using them.

[Tesha]

14. He made the trains run on time.

And he owns much of the media that was informing
the nation about the contestants.

Tesha

[yellowcanine]

3. If they used electronic touch screen voting without a paper trail a

true recount is pretty much impossible.

[ps1074]

4. here are the ballots they use

[DBoon]

5. Sore Loser!

You lost, get over it!

[WhiteTara]

8. if Diebold got to Italy, we know the results

Berlusconi will win with more votes than were cast.

[NYC]

13. Accenture (Arthur Andersen) is in four districts.

As far as I know, they had paper ballots to back them up.

[WhiteTara]

19. Good they had paper ballots

Arthur Anderson couldn't add very well as I recall and they let Enron spiral out of control. How interesting they went into the voting business btw.

[damntexdem]

9. Hey, Berlesconi, don't you realize that Prodi now has a mandate ...

just like Dubya did? ;-)

Well, maybe Berlesconi figures that he can buy the type of recount that he wants.

[zbdent]

11. Don't these righties realize that 701 votes is a mandate?

.01 percent must mean an overwhelming landslide . . .

[rocktivity]

15. What's Italian for Bush vs. Gore?

They said Bush won, then Gore won, then Bush won...I don't want to go down that road again. And Italy used electronic machines for the first time?

:eyes:
rocknation

[Zorra]

16. Uh-oh. Evoting in Italy....does this sound familiar?

Voters in the four regions will cast their ballots just like everybody else and the votes will be counted as before. It is what happens next that changes.

The authorities at each polling station will enter the results into a computer and save the data on an encrypted USB memory stick that is formatted to work only on certain computers.
snip---
The main contract was awarded without a public tender to Telecom Italia, the nation's dominant telecommunications company and the former government monopoly.

It hired the consulting firm Accenture to do some of the work. Gianmario Pisanu, a partner at Accenture, is the son of the interior minister.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/04/news/rome.php
:argh:

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. Compare to the headlines aqnnouncing Bush election as fait accompli in

2000.

Interesting, that.

[truthisfreedom]

18. i don't believe either country had such close votes... ours or theirs. it

stinks.

[Bluebear]

20. Berlsuconi REFUSES TO CONCEDE: "Nobody now can they they won"

ROME - Political uncertainty clouded Italy's future as Premier Silvio Berlusconi refused to concede defeat to center-left leader Romano Prodi in one of the closest elections in the country's recent history.

Berlusconi, alleging irregularities, demanded a recount, a process that could take weeks. "Nobody now can say they have won," he said Tuesday.

Prodi emerged the winner of the election by a razor-thin margin and promised to form a strong government able to run a deeply divided country mired in economic stagnation.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060412/ap_on_re_eu/italy_election

[marmar]

21. Silvio, don't go away mad....

Silvio, just go away.

[Kutjara]

22. Burlesque-oni should know.

After all, he paid for the votes and employed the people who fixed the machines and disposed of the opposing votes.

[wakeme2008]

23. Sidenote: 27 Italians have died in Bush's Invasion...

:grr:

[Greeby]

24. You still here?

Disappear scumbag! :grr:

[ps1074]

25. YOU LOST - GET OVER IT

:rofl:

[flordehinojos]

26. berlusconi might be providing us here with an advance look at what may

happen in 2008 when bush's term to give up the throne comes in ... the bushes love power so much, poppy the malevolent is so jacked-up about having his dump to the world sitting in the oval office, that i think they will not walk out of the white house voluntarily.

[Kutjara]

27. Yeah, we'll end up with Jeb in 2008. n/t

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

28. permanent Chimp--he's NEVER leaving -----EVER!!

they'd have to drag him out kicking and screaming!

He's in office for the rest of his life-

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. Get a grip.

It's not *, it's the gang. They'll be perfectly satisfied with another member of the same cabal running (or appearing to run) things. And * does love vacations.

Term limits and the appearance of normalcy are perfectly fine with them.

If the Democratic candidate wins, however, all bets are off.

[shadowknows69]

32. what if the democratic candidate wins

and immediately starts acting like a neocon.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Binka]

29. Bluebear The Best Part About Berlu Wanting A Recount

Is that it is HIS party that is being investigated for irregularities. The press is gonna crucify Berlu. Everyone hates his guts. This is gonna get good. Notice how the press awarded the contest to Prodi? They took Bushes tactic from 2000 and used it against Silvio! Bring on the recount Berlu and expose YOUR PART IN THE VOTE FRAUD! Yahoo!

[malaise]

30. Boo Hoo

Fugg Silvio - off to prison you go.

[baby_mouse]

33. silvio, *silvio*, SILVIO...

don't be a SORE LOSER.