Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Thanks to Ron Newman in the comments for the preliminary results, here are the final results in Somerville for ballot questions 5 and 6 -- "right of return" and divestment respectively:
As Somerville went to the polls Tuesday, they were being asked to vote on two questions — 5 and 6 — sponsored by the Somerville Divestment Project.
Both were rejected.
Question 5 — a nonbinding resolution asking the federal government to support the right of all refugees, including Palestinian refugees, to return "home" — was defeated.
With all precincts reporting, Somerville voted:
Yes by 5,098 votes or 38.87 percent
No by 6,236 or 48 percent
On Question 6, a non-binding resolution seeking divestment from Israel and all those supplying military equipment to Israel, Somerville also said no.
With all 21 precincts reporting, Somerville said:
Yes by 3,522 or 27 percent
No 7,735 or 59 percent.
Congratulations to all those who worked hard on getting these things defeated, and to the residents of Somerville for doing the right thing.
Somervillepeace kvells a bit.
The Divestment Project curiously has no statement about their defeat yesterday, but I did find this through a Google Blogsearch on "Somerville":
30% vote for Sanctions Against Israel,
in Somerville, Massachusetts. On the "Stop Crucifying Palestine" blog. This is how you turn a crushing defeat into some sort of moral victory.
Unfortunately, they're not giving up. They found a provision in the City Charter that requires the city to hold a special Board of Aldermen meeting on request of 50 voters. This meeting is now scheduled for next Tuesday, November 14 at 6:30 pm.
Ah yes, I had seen that email, but didn't see it on the web. Pathetic. Kooks like this will never be gone completely.