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[Broadcast media recordings. RBB]
Voting began energetically with long lines developing at some urban stations. People seemed to have taken on board the message and wanted to record their opinions early. Almost the entire country seemed to be enjoying fair weather which would encourage a high turnout.
Of course, there were pollsters outside a large number of the polling stations. Many were the media, but the bulk were government organised. President Slimbridge and Matthew Brown wanted an early indication on how the vote was going. For Matthew Brown, it was even more important as, if the vote were mainly for the Federation then it would be necessary for him to put “contingencies” into place – contingencies which would guarantee a win.
There were other pollsters too. Free America volunteers waited to speak to people as they headed home or to work from the polls. They had just two questions to ask.
‘Excuse me,’ one said to a couple leaving one of the polling stations in Jacksonville. ‘Can I ask you a couple of short questions?’
‘Sure thing,’ said the man.
‘How did you vote?’
‘Independent.’
‘I did too,’ said the woman.
‘Thank you. Can I ask what swayed you?’ asked the person with the clipboard.
‘No contest,’ said the man. ‘Who the hell would want to be ordered about by alien creatures?’
‘Yes,’ the woman said. ‘No-brainer, really.’
The volunteer moved on to the next person. The response was often very similar. Those who voted for the Federation were in the minority, but those who did expressed the opinion that the presentations had been biased.
««o»»
[Independence HQ’s files. RBB]
One of a couple of dozen assistants brought papers to Matthew Brown. He nodded at each, sometimes made a note on his tablet, and sent the assistants to the master information board.
It was good. It was fucking good. It couldn’t have been better. He walked over to the whiteboard which showed a growing percentage of votes for independence.
Why had he worried? The case had been put so well by him and the defence promoted so ineptly, that the result was going to be a landslide.
The phone rang.
‘It’s the president, sir,’ said a young woman, passing the handset to him.
‘Is it as good as the media are saying, Matthew?’
‘It sure is, Mr President. It’s getting up to sixty per cent for independence.’
‘Why’s it so high?’
‘I think we did a better job than we needed on both sides. You need to give MacNamara a bonus, sir. He was amazing. Made it sound real, but presented it so poorly that he helped our case no end.’
‘But that still doesn’t explain where the Federation supporters have gone.’
‘My original estimates were thirty per cent for independence; thirty against and thirty don’t knows. Seems the don’t knows have bought our presentation better than I expected. Might change later. I’ll keep a close eye on it, but we could be home and dry by mid-afternoon, sir.’
‘Well done, Matthew. Well done.’
‘Thank you, sir. My pleasure.’
««o»»
[From Brad Gregg’s and Jim Collins’ notes and recordings. RBB]
‘The polls have closed in the east,’ said Brad.
‘Still as bad?’ asked Charles.
‘Worse. Our local pollsters are reporting between sixty-two and sixty-seven per cent against the Federation. In some areas it has been as high as eighty,’ said Brad.
‘California is better,’ said Jim. ‘Some stations are only showing fifty per cent although most are closer to fifty-five. I think the Federation has lost this one.’
‘Do you think the statistics are real or distorted?’ asked Charles.
‘I regret to say that they appear to be real,’ said Brad. ‘Our own volunteers are getting the same result as the media pollsters.’
‘With the sort of biased presentations we saw, it’s no surprise,’ said the general. ‘I think we’ll carry on doing our own thing.’
‘Trouble is, we’re losing some of our legitimacy because of this landslide,’ said Charles.
‘Nonsense!’ said Dick Beech. ‘You’re forgetting that we are standing against a murderous illegitimate regime. Slimbridge killed our president and murdered around eight million New Yorkers, as well as most of the world’s heads of state. The uprising is not about whether or not we join the Federation, it is about whether we’re prepared to let a tyrant take over our country.’
‘Yes, you’re right, Dick. Thanks for the timely reminder. I think I lost focus over this referendum,’ said Charles in a rather subdued manner.
‘Not at all, Charles. This referendum was sent to try us. We are battling through it. The parade in Memphis will make you feel much better,’ said the general, and laughed.