GEORGE W. Bush and gang stole the 2004 election! That, at least, is the contention made in the documentary “Stealing America: Vote by Vote,” directed by Dorothy Fadiman and narrated by actor Peter Coyote.
As proof, Fadiman cites several factors. The main one concerns the discrepancies between voter exit polls, which predicted a John Kerry victory, and the official tabulations, which kept Bush in the White House.
Exit polls and the final vote count usually agree, Coyote says, but not in 2004. Why?
Vote flipping, in which a person pushed the Kerry button but found the machine giving his or her vote to Bush, is also labeled a leading culprit.
As evidence, the film offers dry interviews with poll workers, journalists, politicians (including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) and voters, most of whom agree that the election wasn’t on the up and up.
Everybody loves a good conspiracy theory, and I’m more than willing to believe that Kerry really won. But Fadiman offers only circumstantial evidence when a smoking gun is needed.
Running time: 90 minutes. Not rated (mature theme). At the Quad, 13th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.