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11/1/2007 3:32 AM

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Associated Press

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Associated Press

PITTSBURGH - A city employee developed a computer program that let him rig a radio station's online poll in favor of the mayor, who is seeking re-election.

But Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's office said the worker, who was not named, would not be disciplined because he rigged the unscientific poll on his own time.

"As far as I'm concerned, it was all in good fun," Ravenstahl said.

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The poll, posted last week, showed 86 percent of listeners believed the media was too harsh in its coverage of Ravenstahl, compared with 14 percent who didn't.

The mayor's office later acknowledged that the employee found a way around restrictions on repeat voting, allowing him to bombard the site with votes favoring the mayor.

"He did it as a private citizen. He's well within his rights as a person," Ravenstahl spokeswoman Alecia Sirk said. "People do it privately all the time for 'American Idol,' and nobody investigates that."

Ravenstahl, 27, became the youngest mayor of a major U.S. city last year following the death of the incumbent. He faces a challenge by Republican Mark DeSantis in Tuesday's election.

KDKA Radio program director Marshall Adams said that the station is investigating the poll, and that the station has reason to believe the other polls were affected by the same city worker or others.

"Online polls are unscientific surveys," Adams said. "They can easily be manipulated, but this is all fun to watch."

©2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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