Oregon GMO label vote alive, margin down to 0.3%, lobbyists spend over $2,000 per winning vote

| WTF News |

The GMO label bill in Oregon is coming down to an even smaller margin than previously thought. Updated totals from Oregon officials show the difference is now just 0.3 percent.
Nearly 1.5 million votes have been recorded for ballot Measure 92 and the margin has remained less than one percent, favoring the opposition to GMO labeling. Last week, it was confirmed that there were at least 15,000 outstanding ballots and another 13,000 contested ballots, meaning the intended choice of the voter had to be verified.
As of last Monday, the margin was 0.44%, a difference of only 6,634 votes.

As of Monday, November 10 at 5:00pm,

According to the Secretary of State, the unofficial results of Measure 92 are:

No: 741,165 (50.22%)

Yes: 734,531 (49.78%)

6,634-vote difference – 0.44% margin

Estimated Ballots remaining to be tallied:

Challenged ballots = 13,000

Outstanding votes to be tallied = 15,000 – 20,000?.

The deadline for voters to correct their challenged ballots is close of business on Tuesday, November 18.
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Oregon is an all vote by mail state with a new law that allows us to contact voters with challenged ballots to makes sure their vote is counted for our side if that was the voter’s intent.

According to the new law passed last year, on the 8^th day after the election, country election officers are required by law to make a list of contested/ challenged ballots to the public to allow for those voters to verify their vote and have it counted under the law.

Incidences of a challenged ballot include voters who forgot to sign their ballot, the signature did not match with county records or another problem with signature / ballot verification.

Updated totals show the margin has shrunk by more than 2000 votes to just 4,539 votes.

As of Friday, November 14 at 4:42pm, according to the Secretary of State, the unofficial results of Measure 92 are:

Yes: 740,917 – (49.85%)
No: 745,456 – (50.15%)

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4,539-vote difference

It is estimated that more than 10,000 ballots have not been counted and nearly 13,000 contested ballots still need to be verified.

The margin has come a long way from Wednesday, November 5th when the Yes on 92 campaign was trailing by 29,519 votes. Funding for the No on 92 efforts was at least $10 million, could have been has high as $22 million according to Food Democracy Now. At this rate, the GMO cartel is spending about $2,000 per winning vote to ensure GMO’s remain unlabeled, possibly over $4,000 at the higher estimate.

The leaders of the NO on 92 funding are the same as those suing the state of Vermont over the labeling law that has already passed.

Grocery Manufacturers Association leads the opposition to labeling with more than 300 members including both Starbucks and Monsanto. The other three plaintiffs in the suit are familiar supporters, the Snack Food Association, the International Dairy Food Association and the National Association of Manufacturers.

| WTF News |