Iranian vote-fixing? You decide.

I've been following, a bit haphazardly, the citizen reporting being done on Facebook and other sites. The reports and images being posted ought to be taken with a handful of salt because so much of the citizen reporting coming out of Iran is (by its very nature) unverified as to date and source. But I have, at the same time, deep admiration for the Iranians who take risks to get the word out to the rest of the planet. And many of the "rumors" posted to the 'Net have panned out to be true.

And I feel more strongly than ever that the Internet, regardless of the intentions of its inventors, has taken on a life of its own as the most remarkable social-evolution tool to date in human history, providing us with a reflection of our own nature (from heroic to hateful). Most of all, the 'Net offers the potential for people around the globe to inform and influence each other, hold the feet of leaders to the fire by means of publicizing what is actually happening, to transcend the limitations of nationalism.

Early on after the Iranian authorities announced Ahmadinejad's landslide victory, newscasters, reporters and analysts noted their skepticism about the official results. Inside Iran, the statements of leaders from the various factions are contradictory. Comments posted on the Internet from inside Iran and from expatriate Iranians are also of mixed opinion (though leaning very heavily towards the belief that fraud was committed).

But what about any evidence? I hadn't seen any presented by anyone. Just a sense that Mousavi actually took the popular vote and that the results were fixed.

But yesterday on Facebook I saw this video. (Apologies for the quality, because Facebook vids can only be seen by FB member; what you see here is a movie of the movie.)



I would love to hear from anyone who speaks Farsi, and especially from anyone in Iran who knows what the ballot looked like. It sure as shootin' looks like these men are working off a list of voters and pre-filling ballots.

Whether this is irrefutable evidence (what I want to believe) or an attempt to set someone up or simply fan the flames of protest, whoever shot & leaked this video has guts.