The Progressive Labour Party yesterday refused to deny being engaged in 'push polling' — an unethical form of political campaigning.

Chairman David Burt last night said the PLP "abhors the use of push polling" but refused to deny that the Party had engaged the services of telemarketing company The Parker Group, and that questions asked have allegedly included 'Is the UBP a white elitist party?' and 'Did Harold Darrell release the (Police/BHC) documents as revenge for not receiving a Government contract?'.

Mr. Burt last night referred The Royal Gazette to the following statement: "The election is just weeks away. It should come as no surprise that the PLP, the UBP and independent groups are conducting public opinion surveys and testing election messages.

"The PLP abhors the use of 'push polling' which is specifically designed to 'push' voters towards a candidate or a party. However, in most developed countries like the United States and Great Britain, message testing is widely utilised."

Last night, telemarketing company The Parker Group, based in Birmingham, Alabama, did not return The Royal Gazette's requests for comment that it has been employed by the PLP and that the above specific questions have been asked of voters.

The allegations have been made on two of Bermuda's political blog sites — www.Politics.bm and www.vexedbermoothes.com.

A 'push poll' is when respondents are contacted for the purpose of telemarketing rather than a means of gathering political data.

It is seen as 'negative campaigning' as the organisation attempts to influence the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll.

Callers can 'push' voters towards a predetermined point of view through distorted information which often maligns an opponent.

The Internet website Wikipedia states: "Push polls are attacks disguised as telephone polls. They might ask a question like 'How would you react if Candidate A was revealed to beat his wife?', giving the impression that Candidate A might beat his wife. Members of the media and of the opposing party are deliberately not called, making these tactics all but invisible and unprovable."

The American Association for Public Opinion Research has described 'push polling' as "unethical", and the technique has also been criticised by the American Association of Political Consultants. It is illegal in many parts of the world, but not Bermuda.

In the last few days, both www.Politics.bm and www.vexedbermoothes.com have alleged the PLP has engaged in the technique.

One contribution on vexedbermoothes.com said: "The expected dirty tricks have started, with the Dr. Brown's PLP appearing to commence the use of American 'push polling' disinformation tactics over the past few days.

"Push polling, for those of you with morals, is a smear technique where a poll is used to spread false negative claims about one's opponent."

According to Christian Dunleavy of Politics.bm, one of his readers likens the poll — allegedly called the 'Bermuda Opinion Survey', to "brainwashing".

The questions have allegedly asked for people's opinions on "what a great job the PLP had done" and "lack of experience of UBP candidates versus experience of PLP candidates".

Another contributor, described as 'Recipient 2' said: "We just endured a spectacularly ridiculous PLP poll (from The Parker Group in Alabama) following their fourth attempt at repetitive calling.

"Some of the questions were 'do you agree/disagree' (typical spectrum of answering options): That the UBP is a white elitist party? Does the PLP look out for the average Bermudian? Did Harold Darrell release the documents as revenge for not receiving a Government contract? That Bermuda has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world (50 percent greater than the US)?"

Last night, Mark Pettingill, United Bermuda Party candidate for Warwick West, also claimed the PLP were engaged in 'push polling'. He said: "Last night voters throughout Bermuda were called, sometimes as many as five times in a row, asking them to participate in a survey. The survey was filled with leading, and in some cases, inaccurate statements.

"This practice, known as 'push polling' or propaganda polling, is illegal in many places as the true purpose is to spread disinformation — not to collect data for analysis. The people of Bermuda deserve better than this.

"The poll was conducted by The Parker Group, a US based telemarketing company that was accused of 'push polling' as recently as two weeks ago in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

"I call on Dr. Ewart Brown to comment on this recent spate of harassing phone calls, specifically: Has the PLP retained The Parker Group to provide services to their campaign?

"Has the PLP switched polling firms from Walton Brown to The Parker Group? Was the PLP aware that The Parker Group had been found guilty in a US Federal District Court of Racial Discrimination in hiring practices prior to retaining their services?

"The people of Bermuda have a right to know who is paying for these questionable campaign tactics.

"If it is not the PLP, I urge them to come forward, deny their association with this effort and denounce these despicable techniques.

"We have called upon the PLP to have a fair campaign about the serious current issues in our country.

"It is regrettable, yet understandable, that they would shy away from such a campaign of substance in the face of a record in Government which reflects a lack of acceptable standards."

UBP press officer Don Grearson last night forwarded The Royal Gazette a list of questions he claimed friends in Pembroke had been asked by The Parker Group.

They were allegedly asked to agree or disagree on various statements such as: 'The UBP has a history of being divisive, of looking out for the rich people and their friends' and 'Harold Darrell leaked the stolen police dossier out of revenge because the PLP turned down his projects/did not award him contracts'.

The Parker Group was found to have 'intentionally discriminated on the basis of race' by the Eleventh Circuit of the US Court of Appeals on February 26, 1999. Shirley Ferrill, an African-American, claimed 'race discrimination in job assignment in violation of Title 42 of the United States Code, section 1981'. The court found no ill will or malice but conferred with the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama that "TPG intentionally discriminated on the basis of race".

The Court report stated that Ferrill was involved in 'get-out-the-vote' calling for the "telephone marketing corporation" in 1994. Ten percent of the calling was 'race-matched', with black voters called by black TPG employees using a "'black' script", while white voters were called by white employees using a "white" script.

Black and white callers were segregated into separate rooms — although TPG claims to no longer use this practice of physical segregation.

Ferrill was laid off after the election but claimed race discrimination in her termination and job assignment.