Anonymous image boards like (8ch.net) and some news outlets are reporting discrepancies and potential voter fraud or mischief that render the Iowa Caucus outcome as, at best, inaccurate.
A Twitter campaign with the hashtag #MicrosoftRubioFraud began after what appeared to be a skewed voter outcome– which did not reflect, even closely, the combined results of all of the polls conducted on February 1:
Skeptics claim that Microsoft Corporation‘s providing the technology to count the Iowa caucus votes was not a coincidence. Microsoft is one of, if not the largest, financial donor to GOP presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio. The company is also one of the biggest financial backers of the effort to increase the entry of foreign nationals into the U.S. to replace American workers as a cost-cutting meaure.
Rubio advocates the same policies as his political donor, even arguing that foreign workers are better because “American college graduates can’t do the work.”
#MicrosoftRubioFraud tweets claim that Microsoft altered votes to tally a totally false outcome. USA Today also reported that Microsoft was having “technical difficulties.” In some areas the voting app failed.
However, others point to the Emerson College poll also released on February 1, which put GOP candidates Donald Trump at 27%, Ted Cruz at 26%, and Rubio at 22%.
Still, Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders also reported that caucus results from 90 precincts are missing.
Sanders's camp says that the Iowa Democratic Party has informed the campaigns that the caucus results from 90 precincts are missing.
— John Wagner (@WPJohnWagner) February 2, 2016
Among the questions that now loom are:
- Is there any merit to this Twitter campaign?
- Were votes misrepresented, erased, and/or falsified?
- Will there be another vote?
- Is this a Twitter hoax or a warning of high tech fraud?
Stay tuned for answers.
Cross-posted at Constitution.com
