| WASHINGTON
- June 27 - No candidate won a majority in this week's first-ever Democratic online presidential primary, therefore MoveOn.org PAC will not make an endorsement at this time. Howard Dean received the highest vote total with 43.87% of the vote (139,360 votes); followed by Dennis Kucinich with 23.93% (76,000 votes); and John Kerry with 15.73% (49,973 votes).
The rest of the field was in single digits: John Edwards, 3.19% (10,146 votes); Richard Gephardt, 2.44% (7,755 votes); Bob Graham, 2.24% (7,113 votes); Carol Moseley Braun, 2.21% (7,021 votes); Joe Lieberman, 1.92% (6,095 votes); and Al Sharpton, 0.53% (1,677 votes).
MoveOn.org PAC hailed the primary as a tremendous kick-off for the campaign to defeat George Bush next year:
- 317,639 votes were cast in the "primary," more than the 2000
New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, the Iowa and South Carolina Democratic presidential caucuses, combined;
- 54,370 voters pledged to volunteer for their preferred
Democratic contender;
- 77,192 voters authorized MoveOn.org PAC to give their e-mail
addresses to the candidate of their choice; and
- 49,132 voters pledged to contribute money to their candidate,
for a total estimated at more than $1.75 million ($35 average contribution).
"And one of the most promising results for Democrats in 2004, is that most MoveOn.org voters said they would 'enthusiastically support' a broad array of candidates as the party's nominee next year," said Wes Boyd, MoveOn.org PAC treasurer.
"This is only the beginning," continued Boyd. "Our most important objectives have been met: early Democratic grassroots involvement; increased contributions and volunteer support for each campaign; and mobilization of the Democratic base to defeat George Bush. We wanted people to have a seat at the table, and they have taken it."
###
TOP LINE RESULTS
On June 24th and 25th, 2003 we held an online vote to help our members
express their preferences among the current field of Democratic candidates.
This vote also served to determine if there was consensus among MoveOn
members for a candidate endorsement for the 2004 presidential contest.
MoveOn.org PAC had announced that any candidate from the field of nine
that garnered more than 50% of the vote would receive our endorsement.
In just a little over 48 hours, 317,647 members voted, making this vote
larger than both the New Hampshire Democratic primary and Iowa caucuses
combined. Here are the vote totals and percentages, when voters are
asked to choose one candidate:
| BRAUN |
7021 |
2.21% |
| DEAN |
139360 |
43.87% |
| EDWARDS |
10146 |
3.19% |
| GRAHAM |
7113 |
2.24% |
| KERRY |
49973 |
15.73% |
| KUCINICH |
76000 |
23.93% |
| GEPHARDT |
7755 |
2.44% |
| LIEBERMAN |
6095 |
1.92% |
| SHARPTON |
1677 |
0.53% |
| OTHER |
6121 |
1.93% |
| UNDECIDED |
6378 |
2.01% |
| |
317647 |
100.00% |
The numbers speak for themselves. Since no candidate received more than
50% of the vote, MoveOn.org PAC will not currently endorse any candidate.
We are not surprised that candidates who've invested in internet grassroots
organizing have done well in this vote, and hope that all candidates will
work to broaden their bases of support, even this early in the election
cycle.
"ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORT" FOR MANY CANDIDATES
In addition to the pure choice vote, in our second ballot question we
asked members to indicate all candidates they would enthusiastically support.
28.47% of those who responded to this question said they would enthusiastically
support ANY Democratic candidate. In addition to this base, here's what
our members said about which candidates they would enthusiastically
support:
| BRAUN |
155628 |
50.54% |
| DEAN |
264866 |
86.02% |
| EDWARDS |
172076 |
55.88% |
| GRAHAM |
153045 |
49.70% |
| KERRY |
231830 |
75.29% |
| KUCINICH |
210164 |
68.25% |
| GEPHARDT |
163110 |
52.97% |
| LIEBERMAN |
132447 |
42.01% |
| SHARPTON |
109249 |
35.48% |
We are encouraged by this sense of unity and the broad support for Democratic
leaders.
MOVEON MEMBERS ARE WILLING TO STEP UP
In the third section of the ballot, we asked MoveOn members if they're
ready to participate actively in campaigns. 77,192 voters asked
us to share contact information with the candidate of their choice. 49,132
voters pledged to support a campaign financially. 54,370 voters
pledged to volunteer for a campaign. Once each ballot was submitted, MoveOn
PAC presented each voter with a link to their chosen candidate's website
and donation web page. MoveOn voters are already providing real support
to campaigns.
TRUST BUT VERIFY
This kind of voting process is very new and we've taken extraordinary
steps to insure its robustness and integrity. The voting itself was controlled
through the limitation of one vote per email address -- an email ballot
could only be used for one vote. In addition, we subjected the votes to
several tests based on whether multiple votes were submitted through a
single machine, whether an unusual number of votes came from a certain
domain, or whether single voters participated through several email addresses.
Finally, we contracted for a followup telephone survey, through a respected,
independent polling firm, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Reseach . This survey, which we've
called our "exit poll" was run to bring independent verification of the
voting percentages. As you see below, the exit poll numbers reflect the
actual voting results very closely, well within the projected three percent
margin of error:
| |
VOTE |
SURVEY |
DIFF |
| BRAUN |
2.2% |
3.1% |
0.9% |
| DEAN |
43.9% |
43.9% |
0.0% |
| EDWARDS |
3.2% |
3.5% |
0.3% |
| GRAHAM |
2.2% |
2.7% |
0.5% |
| KERRY |
15.7% |
14.8% |
-0.9% |
| KUCINICH |
23.9% |
23.4% |
-0.5% |
| GEPHARDT |
2.4% |
2.1% |
-0.3% |
| LIEBERMAN |
1.9% |
1.2% |
-0.7% |
| SHARPTON |
0.5% |
0.5% |
0.0% |
| OTHER |
1.9% |
2.1% |
0.2% |
| UNDECIDED |
2.0% |
2.7% |
0.7% |
| |
100.00% |
100.00% |
%0.0 |
The telephone survey also served as an independent check that the phone
numbers given in our ballet verification were valid.
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Reseach concluded, "The results for each candidate in
the online primary are remarkably close to the results in the telephone
survey. The consistency between the online vote results and the telephone
survey results confirms the integrity of the online vote. "
(Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Reseach does not serve as a pollster for any Democratic Presidential Candidate.)
CONCLUSION
We've been overwhelmed with the excitement surrounding this election
process, and feel very satisfied with the results. All campaigns engaged
our members and together we're building a broad, active base of the support
for the eventual Democratic nominee.
TOP WRITE IN CANDIDATES
| Wesley Clark |
2968 |
0.93% |
| Al Gore |
786 |
0.24% |
| Hillary Clinton |
592 |
0.19% |
|
