Little Falls, New York – Upstate Jobs, Reform and Independent candidate for Congress, Martin Babinec, claimed foul today over the results of the Siena Poll issued last night. The Siena poll was conducted identifying Babinec as a candidate on the Libertarian line instead of the Upstate Jobs candidate or the Reform Party candidate.

Babinec collected over 10,000 signatures to establish the Upstate Jobs line only to see that combined with Libertarian line in 7 of the 8 counties by partisan boards of election. Only Oneida County honored the will of the people and listed Babinec on the Upstate Jobs Line. Babinec subsequently challenged that action in court only to be ruled against by a politically appointed judge.

“Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are right, the system is rigged. From the board of elections who conspire to disenfranchise independent candidates to the politically appointed judges who rubber stamp their decisions from the special interests and PACs that fund millions in negative ads and the media outlets that gladly cash their checks. It’s no wonder voters are angry,” said Babinec.

Babinec added, “Siena’s polling error is an outgrowth of a rigged system so confusing, so confounding even the insiders can’t keep it straight – how on earth are voters supposed to.”

* The Babinec campaign collected over 10,000 signatures on the Upstate Jobs Line;

* Siena’s first survey identified Babinec as the Upstate Jobs candidate;

* Babinec considered and refused running on the Libertarian line on platform issues;

* Babinec’s campaign has spent over $2.5 million on advertising, not one penny of it on educating voters to cast their ballot for Babinec on the Libertarian line;

* Poll respondents were asked presidential head to head which included “Libertarian” Gary Johnson, who scored at only 5% -only two questions before – creating an association where none existed;

* The Reform Party is a constituted party in the State of New York, is the highest line Martin is listed  on the ballot and the only ballot line that he appears on in every county throughout the district;

* The Babinec campaign has sent over 1.7 million pieces of mail throughout the district identifying Babinec as either the “Reform” or “Upstate Jobs” candidate;

*Only polling Babinec on the combined Libertarian line is similar to only polling Tenney on the Conservative line or Myers on the Working Families Line.

In addition to the fundamental error revolving around the Libertarian labeling, Zogby took issue with the under-sampling of millennials and over sampling of seniors in the poll.

“Martin Babinec has stated from the outset of his campaign that his goal was two fold; to win the race for Congress and to establish the Upstate Jobs Party. To be clear, we aren’t claiming this error in Siena polling would catapult Martin to the lead, but we are concerned that the results, coupled with the incredible hurdles put up by the rigged board of elections, combine to disenfranchise voters, undermine the competitiveness of his candidacy and threaten the future of the Upstate Jobs Party. Martin Babinec has run a campaign on the issues, has sworn off special interest funding and has not spent a penny on negative ads –  all he has fought for is the right to compete on a level playing field and let the voters decide,” David Catalfamo.