Romney’s Flubbed GOTV Efforts May Have Cost Him
From Breitbart:
As Republicans try to explain their Election Day losses in terms of policy, tactics, and strategy, one factor is emerging as the essential difference between the Obama and Romney campaigns on November 6: the absolute failure of Romney’s get-out-the-vote effort, which underperformed even John McCain’s lackluster 2008 turnout. One culprit appears to be “Orca,” the Romney’s massive technology effort, which failed completely.
A source within the Romney campaign agreed to share his reflections on Project Orca with Breitbart News:
It’s easy to point fingers after a loss and I wouldn’t normally do it, but consider what happened.
Project Orca was supposed to enable poll watchers to record voter names on their smartphones, by listening for names as voters checked in. This would give the campaign real-time turnout data, so they could redirect GOTV resources throughout the day where it was most needed. They recruited 37,000 swing state volunteers for this.
I worked on the Colorado team, and we were called by hundreds (or more) volunteers who couldn’t use the app or the backup phone system. The usernames and passwords were wrong, but the reset password tool didn’t work, and we couldn’t change phone PINs. We were told the problems were limited and asked to project confidence, have people use pencil and paper, and try to submit again later.
Then at 6PM they admitted they had issued the wrong PINs to every volunteer in Colorado, and reissued new PINs (which also didn’t work). Meanwhile, counties where we had hundreds of volunteers, such as Denver Colorado, showed zero volunteers in the system all day, but we weren’t allowed to add them. In one area, the head of the Republican Party plus 10 volunteers were all locked out. The system went down for a half hour during peak voting, but for hundreds or more, it never worked all day. Many of the poll watchers I spoke with were very discouraged. Many members of our phone bank got up and left.
I do not know if the system was totally broken, or if I just saw the worst of it. But I wonder, because they told us all day that most volunteers were submitting just fine, yet admitted at the end that all of Colorado had the wrong PIN’s. They also said the system projected every swing state as pink or red.
Regardless of the specific difficulties, this idea would only help if executed extremely well. Otherwise, those 37,000 swing state volunteers should have been working on GOTV…
Somebody messaged me privately after my email and told me that North Carolina had the same problems — every pin was wrong and not fixed until 6PM — and was also told it was localized to North Carolina.
by 
Sara:
In election codes (laws), at least in Texas, poll-workers and poll-watchers are to turn off ALL cell-phones and all electronic equipment, other than that provided by the Board of Elections. So, if Mitt (or the GOP) actually sent watchers in to get and provide names of voters (as they entered or exited), this was against the LAW. I am sure it’s something each of these workers could be cited for.
I worked as an election judge. I can provide the codes (laws) which state that nobody is allowed to provide names of those who have or have not yet voted. So this, “project Orca”, would have been completely illicit, to say nothing in the morality of passing on private information on persons who’ve voted. That is to remain private!
During my judge training, we were all told one very specific thing; IF anyone wants to know if someone else (by name) has voted or not, judges and clerks are not allowed to provide such info. Yet Mitt thought he could bypass this law, too?
I am glad his efforts failed.
One thing that changed this outcome is this: County GOP leaders have told people to, “vote wherever”, even if not their own precinct. The only way to accomplish this is via, “provisional ballot”. And provisional ballots are hardly ever counted. They are paper-ballots (which I am all for) and they are not a part of the e-voting numbers, just like other paper (mail-in) ballots.
So, who knows? Perhaps GOP at county-level(s) were out to ensure Mitt a loss? Considering the venomous attacks on all Ron Paul supporters, could be that certain county folk were not willing to let a guy like that win. But, that’s just a guess.
Whatever we wanted to hear he would take the current, popular position:He kept his nose up whenever asked for definitive answers by journalists, reporters and liberty-minded people..He didn’t reveal his ‘vulture’ business tactics. He successfully kept the voice of liberty from the RNC. Despite these ‘victories’ America had no choice but to keep on truckin’ with the current leader of executive orders executive privilege no transparent arms to terrorist giving FED loving collateral damage drone flying, police state loving, tax raising person left to vote for. God help us if We People can’t get a third party going for our individual liberty.
Who is “he?”