2006 United States immigration reform protests, Controversy and backlash over flag symbolism and protests
As part of the backlash over the protests and the controversy over the flag symbolism issue, a group calling themselves "Border Guardians" burned a Mexican flag in front of the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, Arizona, on April 9, 2006. The following day the group proceeded to burn two Mexican flags during protest in Tucson which was estimated to have had 15,000 participants. After the police seized a student who had thrown a water bottle at the "Border Guardians", they followed the police officers calling for them to let the student go. As the situation escalated violence broke out and 6 were arrested with dozens being pepper-sprayed. The next day the police arrested the leader of the Border Guardians, Roy Warden, for charges including assault and starting a fire in a public park.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Controversy and backlash over flag symbolism and protests
Because of the controversy, organizers of the protests encouraged protesters to leave their Mexican flags at home, with Cardinal Roger Mahony telling Los Angeles protesters to not fly any flag other than the United States flag because, "...they do not help us get the legislation we need." As a result of this controversy later protests featured fewer Mexican flags and more protesters carrying American flags.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Controversy and backlash over flag symbolism and protests
In addition, California's Oceanside Unified School District banned flags and signs from its campuses after "Mexican flag-wavers clashed with U.S. flag-wavers."


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Backlash
The Washington Post reported that, in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Herndon, a day labor center at which suspected illegal aliens gathered was closed and its mayor and two aldermen lost reelection, in part due to immigration concerns.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Backlash
Membership in the Minuteman Project increased due in part to backlash from the protests. On May 3, responding to the May 1 boycotts, the Minutemen embarked on a caravan across the United States in an effort to bring attention to a need for border enforcement. The caravan was expected to reach Washington, D.C. on May 12.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Backlash
Regarding the Tucson-based anti-immigration movement: In 2006, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote: "Roy Warden, 59, emerged this spring as one of the country's most controversial, volatile, and, many believe, dangerous characters of the anti-immigration movement."


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Consequences of the 2006 immigration protests
Although HR-4437 failed to pass through the Senate, it left a trail of consequences that affected the immigrant community. One of those consequences was intensive Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids during the final years of the Bush administration which continued throughout the Obama presidency. The increase in Immigration Customs Enforcement raids was meant to suppress further immigrant organizing. In the next couple of years, more than 300,000 undocumented immigrant were deported to their home countries, that is 100,000 more than the number of deported immigrants in 2005, a year before the protests. The increase in deportations caused fear of retaliation within the undocumented community and resulted in rapid demobilization.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Consequences of the 2006 immigration protests
Although HR-4437 did not become a law at the federal level, it did not prevent individual states from passing similar laws. In 2006, Pennsylvania passed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which fined landlords who rented housing to undocumented immigrants and also fined business owners who hired them. The State of Arizona passed S.B. 1070, which led to racial profiling and required police officers to request legal documentation from anyone they suspected was undocumented. Both laws, along with similar others, were deemed unconstitutional in part because the U.S. Constitution assigns control over immigration to the federal government, not individual states.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Latino political contributions and civic engagement
Since undocumented immigrant communities were unable to vote, lobby, or influence politicians in more traditional ways, Latino leaders mobilized immigrants through non-voting activities, such as protests. Many Latinos indicated that the marches were the beginning of a new social and political movement that sought to gain civic empowerment. A report released by the Pew Hispanic Center indicated that Latinos would most likely vote in subsequent elections and The National Immigration Forum found that Latino voters were more enthusiastic to vote in 2006 due to the immigration debate, and the need to prevent legislation like HR-4437 from being approved by Congress. "Today we march, tomorrow we vote," was one of the most popular slogans during the 2006 immigrant protests. Such slogan indicated the value and need for Latino/a political contribution and recognition.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Legislation
H.R. 4437 (The Border Protection, Anti terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005) was passed by the United States House of Representatives on December 16, 2005 by a vote of 239 to 182. It is also known as the "Sensenbrenner Bill", for its sponsor in the House of Representatives, Jim Sensenbrenner. H.R. 4437 was seen by many as the catalyst for the 2006 U.S. immigration reform protests.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Legislation
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 previously gave "amnesty" to 2.7 million undocumented immigrants. Proponents of the measure, including then-President Reagan, said the measure, paired with stricter employer rules and a better path for legal entry, would reduce illegal immigration.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Legislation
The companion bill passed by the United States Senate was S. 2611, which never passed conference committee. The House Republican leadership stated that it rejected S. 2611 wholly and would only pass legislation that addressed border security. The end of the 109th Congress marked the death of this bill.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Kennedy ruling
The USA Supreme Court on June 16, 2008, ruled in Dada v. Mukasey, per ponente Justice Kennedy ruled (5–4) "that someone who is here illegally may withdraw his voluntarily agreement to depart and continue to try to get approval to remain in the United States." The Court held that complying with a deportation order did not strip an immigrant of the right to appeal that deportation order. The lawsuit is about 2 seemingly contradictory provisions of immigration law. One prevents deportation by voluntary departure from the country.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Kennedy ruling
The other section allows immigrants who are here illegally but whose circumstances have changed to build their case to immigration officials, and who must remain in the US. In the case, Samson Dada, a Nigerian citizen, overstayed beyond the expiration of his tourist visa in 1998. Immigration authorities ordered him to leave the country as he agreed to leave voluntarily, but to allow his legal re-entry, unlike if he had been deported.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Organizations
The following organizations mobilized from hundreds (FAIR) to millions of people (Great American Boycott) around immigration reform in the United States during 2006.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Organizations, Recruiting methods
Typically anti-illegal immigration movements focus on grassroots recruiting tactics; the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps and Minuteman Project use these methods to boost membership. After the 2006 immigration reform protest, anti-immigration movement participation increased by 600%.


2006 United States immigration reform protests, Organizations, Recruiting methods, Cooperation between anti-illegal immigration groups
Anti -illegal immigration groups often do not pursue the same agenda in the same ways; however, they do form coalitions when their agendas match other movements. One of the major joint efforts that these groups engage in is access to mailing lists for individuals who have donated money in the past to support the movement; Federation for American Immigration Reform and Minutemen Civil Defense Corps have shared lists of mailers with one another in recent years.


2006 United States motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2006 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh race of the 2006 Motorcycle Grand Prix season. It took place on the weekend of July 21–23, 2006 at the Laguna Seca circuit.


2006 United States motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round eleven has concluded.


2006 Utah Blaze season
The 2006 Utah Blaze season was the first season for the franchise. They finished 7–9 record and qualified for the playoffs, although they lost 57–34 against Arizona to lose their first franchise playoff game.


2006 Utah Blaze season, Coaching
Danny White entered his first season as the head coach of the Blaze.


2006 Utah Grand Prix
The 2006 Utah Grand Prix was the fifth race for the 2006 American Le Mans Series season at Miller Motorsports Park. It took place on July 15, 2006.


2006 Utah Grand Prix, Official results
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).


2006 Utah State Aggies football team
The 2006 Utah State Aggies football team represented Utah State University as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by second-year head coach Brent Guy and played their home games in Romney Stadium in Logan, Utah.


2006 Utah Utes football team
The 2006 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by 2nd year head football coach Kyle Whittingham. The Utes played their homes games in Rice-Eccles Stadium.


2006 Utah Utes football team, After the season, NFL Draft
Utah had two players taken in the 2007 NFL Draft:


2006 Uzbek League
The 2006 Uzbek League season was the 15th edition of top level football in Uzbekistan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1992.


2006 V-League
V-League 2006 was the 50th season of Vietnam's professional football league. Eurowindow was the league's sponsor for the first time, replacing Tan Hiep Phat.


2006 V-League
Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An won their second title in this season.


2006 V-League, Dream Team
Phùng Văn Nhiên (Mikado Nam Định) Nguyễn Huy Hoàng (Sông Lam Nghệ An) Nirut Surasiang (Pisico Bình Định) Minh Trung (Cảng Sài Gòn)


2006 V-League, Dream Team
Nguyễn Minh Phương (Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An) Shamo Abbey (Becamex Bình Dương) Phan Văn Tài Em (Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An)


2006 V-League, Dream Team
Antonio Carlos    (Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An) Lê Công Vinh      (Sông Lam Nghệ An) Elenildo de Jesus (Cảng Sài Gòn)


2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series was an Australian based motor racing competition for V8 Supercars. It began on 25 March 2006 in Adelaide and ended on 10 December 2006 at Phillip Island after 13 rounds. The 2006 Championship was the eighth V8 Supercar Championship Series.


2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series
The Drivers Championship was won by Rick Kelly, the Teams Championship by the Toll HSV Dealer Team and the Manufacturers Championship by Ford. As the winner of the Drivers Championship, Kelly was also awarded the 47th Australian Touring Car Championship title by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.


2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Race calendar
The 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series was contested over 13 rounds. The Betta Electrical 500 and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 were endurance events which were contested over a single race with two drivers per car. The round at Winton Motor Raceway was organised as a late replacement for the cancelled V8 Supercars China Round.


2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series.


2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Points system
Drivers were required to drop the points from their worst round up to and including Bathurst.


2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Results and standings, Manufacturers Championship
Ford won the Manufacturers Championship, having gained the most round victories over the course of the championship.


2006 V8 Supercar season
The 2006 V8 Supercar season was the 47th year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500.


2006 V8 Supercar season
There were 21 V8 Supercar meetings held during 2006; a thirteen-round series for V8 Supercars, the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series (VCS), two of them endurance races; a seven-round second tier V8 Supercar series 2006 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series (FVS) and a V8 Supercar support programme event at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.


2006 V8 Supercar season
This was the last season of V8 Supercars broadcast by Network Ten and Fox Sports; at the conclusion of 2006 the broadcasting rights were handed over to the Seven Network from 2007 to 2014. However, since 2015 Network Ten and Fox Sports are still permitted to revive their V8 Supercars rights with Ten shows seven events live plus highlights and Fox Sports shows every practice, qualifying and race live.


2006 V8 Supercar season, Season review
Rick Kelly won the championship. It came down to the last race, where Rick Kelly narrowly beat Craig Lowndes for the championship.


2006 V8 Supercar season, Results and standings, Panasonic V8 Supercars GP 100
This meeting was a support event of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix.


2006 V8 Supercars Winton round
The 2006 V8 Supercars Winton round was a motor race for V8 Supercars held on the weekend of 2–4 June 2006. The event was held at the Winton Motor Raceway in Benalla, Victoria, and consisted of three races culminating in 378 kilometres. It was the fourth round of thirteen in the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series.


2006 V8 Supercars Winton round
The event was notable for Jason Richards' only race win, coming in the reverse-grid heat.


2006 V8 Supercars Winton round, Background
José Fernández and Fabian Coulthard replaced Tony Ricciardello and Alan Gurr at Britek Motorsport and Paul Morris Motorsport respectively.


2006 VFL season
The 2006 Victorian Football League (VFL) is a semi-professional Australian Rules Football competition featuring 12 teams from Victoria and one team from Tasmania.


2006 VFL season
It was the 125th season of the Australian rules football competition.


2006 VFL season, League affiliations
Prior to the 2006 season, the VFL-AFL reserves affiliation which had existed for the previous three seasons between North Melbourne and Port Melbourne was terminated. In its place, North Melbourne arranged to be affiliated with both North Ballarat and Tasmania, with half of its reserves players allocated to each team. Port Melbourne continued as a stand-alone senior team in the competition.


2006 VFL season, League affiliations
As a result, the competition stayed constant at thirteen teams: ten VFL-AFL affiliations, one AFL reserves team (Geelong) and two stand-alone VFL teams (Port Melbourne and Frankston).


2006 VFL season, League affiliations
Prior to the season, Springvale came to an arrangement with the City of Casey to relocate to the new Casey Fields multi-sports complex in Cranbourne East. The club changed its name to the Casey Scorpions.


2006 VMI Keydets football team
The 2006 VMI Keydets football team represented the Virginia Military Institute during the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season. It was the Keydets' 116th year of football, and their 4th season in the Big South Conference.


2006 VMI Keydets football team
Following the firing of former coach Cal McCombs, who headed the VMI football team from 1999 to 2005, the Keydets announced they hired Jim Reid as their new head coach on December 22, 2005. After winning the first game of the season over Davidson 20–19, VMI went winless through the rest of the year, dropping 10 straight games, including all four in conference play.


2006 VTV9 – Binh Dien International Women's Volleyball Cup
The 2006 VTV9 - Binh Dien International Women's Volleyball Cup was the 1st staging . The tournament was held in Long An, Vietnam.


2006 VTV9 – Binh Dien International Women's Volleyball Cup, Pools composition
VTV Bình Điền Long An (Host) Vietinbank Giấy Bãi Bằng Thông tin LVPB  Vital Thái Bình


2006 VTV9 – Binh Dien International Women's Volleyball Cup, Pool standing procedure
Match won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loserMatch won 3–2: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser


2006 Vaahteraliiga season
The 2006 Vaahteraliiga season was the 27th season of the highest level of American football in Finland. The regular season took place between May 36 and September 9, 2006. The Finnish champion was determined in the playoffs and at the championship game Vaahteramalja XXVII the Porvoo Butchers won the Helsinki Wolverines.


2006 Vadodara riots
The 2006 Vadodara riots also known as the 2006 Dargah riots occurred on 1 May of that year in the city of Vadodara in the state of Gujarat in India. The riots were caused by the municipal council's decision to remove the dargah (shrine) of Syed Chishti Rashiduddin, a medieval Sufi saint. The shrine was between two and three hundred years old. The incident resulted in six to eight people being killed and forty-two injured, 16 of these were from police shooting.


2006 Vadodara riots, Background
The dargah was first mentioned in a municipal survey carried out in 1912, when Vadodara was the princely state of Baroda and was ruled by Sayajirao Gaekwad III. The city Mayor, Sunil Solanki, had said that the council were removing illegal buildings as part of a road widening programme and that they had already removed 20 temples and three dargahs.


2006 Vadodara riots, Background
On 2 April, the Gujarat High Court looked into the incidents suo motu and decided that "encroachments on public roads cannot be tolerated", and that if needed, "anti-socials" who opposed these demolitions should be arrested before the demolition was carried out. The Supreme Court overturned the judgment on 4 April and ordered a temporary stay on demolition of illegal religious structures, due to the situation being volatile."


2006 Vadodara riots, Background
The commissioner for police, Deepak Swaroop, had requested caution on the issue. But Solanki insisted on the programme continuing as the shrine was in the way of development. It is reported that he said "If the police and the corporation will not do it, our boys in the Bajrang Dal will do it."


2006 Vadodara riots, Riots
On the first day it is estimated that eighteen people were injured and thirty-eight placed under arrest. The police have stated that they had at first used tear gas and batons in an attempt to control the crowd, but were left with no option other than to shoot. On the 2 May there were incidents of violence between Muslims and Hindus in several areas. On 3 May the State government requested that the federal government provide additional security personnel. A Muslim man had been burned to death in his car by a 1,500 strong crowd, and cases of arson had been reported. People were also evacuated out of the Ajabdi Mills area as a precaution.


2006 Vadodara riots, Riots
Frontline wrote of the incident unlike the riots of 2002, this was only a skirmish. There were spontaneous clashes between two communities. There were casualties on both sides, of innocent people just like in 2002 but at much milder scale. The violence of 2002 was a far more widespread and has been opined to be a state-sponsored, planned and systematic targeting of Muslims." The Independent People's Tribunal, an NGO has stated that the police had targeted Muslims during the incident.


2006 Vadodara riots, Riots
The home minister for Gujarat, Amit Shah, stated that as a result of the incident paramilitary forces had been deployed and security increased in five of Gujarat's districts


2006 Valencia GP2 Series round
The 2006 Valencia GP2 Series round were a pair of motor races held on 8 and 9 April 2006 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia as part of the GP2 Series. It was the first round of the 2006 GP2 season.


2006 Valencia International Piano Competition Prize Iturbi
XV Jose Iturbi International Piano Competition took place in Valencia, from September 14 to the 30th, 2006. The competition is held every two years and is a member of the Geneva World Federation of International Music Competitions. Pianist Josu De Solaun Soto was given the First Grand Prize, becoming the first Spanish pianist to be awarded such distinction in the 25 years of the competition's existence. The prize included over $25,000, recital and orchestral engagements and a recording contract.


2006 Valencia Superbike World Championship round
The 2006 Valencia Superbike World Championship round was the third round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship season. It took place on the weekend of April 21–23, 2006 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.


2006 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2006 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix was the last race of the 2006 Motorcycle Grand Prix season. It took place on the weekend of 27–29 October 2006 at the Valencia circuit. The MotoGP riders' championship was decided at this race, as Nicky Hayden's third place ensured he completed the season with more points than his rival, and polesitter for the race, Valentino Rossi, who finished down in thirteenth after he fell during the race.


2006 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix
The race was also notable for two lasts; the last race with the 990cc (60.4 cu in) engines which débuted in 2002, and the last race for the Honda RC211V, as the engines switched to 800cc (48.8 cu in) in capacity and Honda would field the RC212V from 2007.


2006 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round sixteen has concluded.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season
The 2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season was the club's 21st year of existence (or 31st if counting the NASL Whitecaps), as well as their 14th as a Division 2 club in the franchise model of US-based soccer leagues. 2006 was Bob Lilley's second season as head coach, and they started the season with many draws while the team sorted itself out. In the last ten games after some player additions, the Whitecaps lost only two of their last ten games. In the playoffs Vancouver went on a run as the fourth seed.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season
They first had a play-in round series against Miami FC Blues and Romário before upsetting regular season champion or Commissioner's Cup winner and Canadian rival Montreal Impact with two second half of overtime goals in the second leg away in La belle province. The first goal scorer was Eduardo Sebrango, a striker out of favour in Montreal in 2005 (he was the 2004 leading goal scorer on the Impact)  that Vancouver signed in the off season. In the single championship game at the regular season runner-up Rochester Rhinos' new home, PAETEC Park, the Whitecaps scored via an own goal just before half time and then put the game out of reach with two more goals to win 0 – 3.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season
The Whitecaps FC Women ruthlessly won the 2006 W-League Championship, the club's second, finishing with almost twice as many regular season points as the runner up in the Western Conference before 5 – 0 and 3 – 0 wins achieved the title. The club also had four USL Super Y League teams play in the finals held in Florida. This was the first time a club has won both the men's and women's United States D2 championships in the same year.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season
The league was a single table competition although the schedule was not balanced; it was home and away with additional matches against Seattle, Portland, and Minnesota. Head to head results were the first tie-breaker. Average attendance increased for the fifth year in a row and was above 5,000 for the second time since 2001. Two double-headers were played with the Whitecaps Women, the USL W-League.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season
The club also spent the year raising its local profile. The team moved its live radio broadcasts to a new start up sports radio channel in 2006 for one year. The Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium was in the local media before the season started although attempts to have the stadium ready for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup were annulled with an unusually long six month review process. The stadium was news-worthy again in June 2006 as it was recommended for inclusion in municipal development planning; note not approved for the planning process.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season
Once approved for the planning process, the process including rezoning would have taken an additional two years. The stadium process started in 2003 and as of 2014 has not been built regardless of completely private financing. The Whitecaps also partnered with a player marketing service for the player development program. The club had sixteen teams in their club structure during 2006.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Schedule and results, Tables
Commissioner's Cup, bye to semifinal round of playoffs  Bye to semifinal round of playoffs  First round of playoffs


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Schedule and results, Tables
Last updated: April 26, 2010Source: Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won;  T = Matches tied;  L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Schedule and results, Pre-season
The Whitecaps opened their four-week training camp on March 27, 2006 at Simon Fraser University. The preseason schedule was announced March 14, 2006 including a double header of the men's and women's teams versus the UVic Vikes.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Schedule and results, Post-season, Bracket
Quarterfinals and Semifinals 2-game aggregate Higher seeded team hosted first game


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Schedule and results, Voyaguers Cup
Prior to 2008, from when it has been awarded to the Canadian Championship winners, the men's title was decided on regular-season matches between Canada's USL First Division sides.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Whitecaps Nations Cup
Due to the business success of neighbouring rivals' (Portland and Seattle) friendlies and the friendly with Sunderland A.F.C. in 2005 watched by 6,857, the Whitecaps marketed a four team tournament held from July 19–23, 2006. The tournament was organized with the Vancouver Multicultural Society's CultureFest and the local 27th Annual Nations Cup soccer tournament for local amateur soccer enthusiasts. Welsh club Cardiff City FC also played matches in Victoria, Langley, and Seattle.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Whitecaps Nations Cup
Due to the business success of neighbouring rivals' (Portland and Seattle)  friendlies and the friendly with Sunderland A.F.C. in 2005 watched by 6,857, the Whitecaps marketed a four team tournament held from July 19–23, 2006. The tournament was organized with the Vancouver Multicultural Society's CultureFest and the local 27th Annual Nations Cup soccer tournament for local amateur soccer enthusiasts. Welsh club Cardiff City FC also played matches in Victoria, Langley, and Seattle.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Staff
John Rocha stepped down in August 2006 to focus on the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup as Vancouver site chairman while continuing to support the Whitecaps in a consulting role.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Current roster
2006 marked the most significant changes to the Whitecaps roster in the 20 years of club history with twelve new players signed at the start of the season. The American coach Bob Lilley expanded the Whitecaps' recruiting more to the US college ranks, MLS, other USL-1 teams, and overseas. He opined that the rate of the improvement in the league meant that the Whitecaps did not have time if they wanted to be competitive this year to develop local players, so the Whitecaps changed to a buyer in the player marketplace.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Current roster
Local signings such as 2006's cohort of Andrew Corrazza, Diaz Kambere, and others stopped sticking with the team going forward. As the profile of the club increased and ambitions for Division 1 grew, coaches had more pressure for immediate results and fewer local connections. This was the beginning of a trend that gradually removed locally developed long-time career players from the Whitecaps first team through release or retirement that probably culminated with the retirement of Martin Nash after the 2010 season.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Current roster
Twelve year Whitecap veteran defender and local Chris Franks retired after a spell with Doncaster Rovers F.C. Carlo Corazzin was also released. Previous starting goalkeeper Five year Whitecap Mike Franks who didn't get any further minutes after recovering from injury in 2005 was also released. Defender Mark Watson was released prior to the 2006 season and midfielder Nick Dasovic retired before the 2005 season to coach.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Current roster
On March 28, the Whitecaps announced the trade of Daniel Antoniuk who was with Portland Timbers in 2005 to Montreal Impact for Eduardo Sebrango. Bob Lilley was familiar with Eduardo Sebrango from his time coaching the Impact and Sebrango was recovering from injuries and saw little playing time in 2005. As advertised in the signing announcement, he would score important, timely goals in big games both for and against the Whitecaps in the years to come. They also announced the signing of 2005 MLS Columbus Crew midfielder/forward David Testo.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Current roster
On April 7, 2006 the Whitecaps signed fullback John Jones and defender Anthony Noreiga. The whitecaps signed locals Diaz Kambere and Stefan Leslie to amateur contracts as well as American midfielder Tony Donatelli, and forward Canadian Sita-Taty Matondo,  Another key signing was the English Premier League Newcastle United goalkeeper Tony Caig on April 13, 2006. Due to injuries in midfield and forward requiring one of the regular defenders to move to midfield, in June the Whitecaps also signed defender Ryan Saurez.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Current roster
The 2006 team was billed as much more offensive minded with greater depth at the forward and midfield positions. The line up was relatively settled with 25 players getting playing minutes and seven getting about 2000 minutes or more. James Alberts, Jeff Clarke, Joey Gjertsen, and David Morris appeared in all 28 games for the Whitecaps. Despite preseason speculation the goal scoring was again singular, this year Joey Gjertsen was fourth in the league with 12 goals. Martin Nash and Joey Gjertsen led the team in assists with both in the top ten league-wide. Gjertsen's year for the champion Whitecaps, fourth in goals (12) and second in assists (7), earned him a league most valuable player award.


2006 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season, Current roster, Goalkeeper stats
|}Updated to match played October 20, 2013Source: As of the end of the season.


2006 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
The 2006 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Bobby Johnson, who served his fifth year as the Commodores' head coach. Members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Commodores played their home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2006, Vanderbilt went 4–8 with a record of 1–7 in the SEC.


2006 Varanasi bombings
In March 2006, the Indian city of Varanasi witnessed a series of bombings in which at least 28 people were reportedly killed and 101 injured. Varanasi is considered holy by Hindus and is one of the oldest living city in the world.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Blasts, Blast at the Temple
The blasts occurred nearly simultaneously shortly after 18:00 IST. The first blast took place at 18:20 at the crowded Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple near the Banaras Hindu University. Hundreds of pilgrims were in temple as it was a Tuesday, believed to be particularly holy by the devotees of Lord Hanuman, a deity at the temple. The bomb was placed in a container near a gate at the temple where women usually sit. It claimed 10 lives and injured 40.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Blasts, Blast at the station
One other blast followed at the Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station. It occurred in the waiting area next to the travel office. Initially another blast was reported inside the stationary Shiv Ganga Express  bound for Delhi; however, this was later discounted. The Shiv Ganga Express departure was delayed by 2 hours, eventually arriving in Delhi 4 hours late but intact. Six bombs were reported defused from other areas in the city, including a restaurant frequented by foreigners, in the vicinity of the railway station. It claimed 11 lives and injured 20.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Timing of the blasts
It is estimated that the date and time of the explosions were selected for causing maximum damage. The CBSE and ISC Examinations (India's school leaving examinations) were in progress and therefore there were many students and worshippers at the temple when the bombs exploded during the Aarti ceremony. Tuesday was also a holy day of the deity at the temple. It is further conjectured that the bomb at the railway station was orchestrated to coincide with the throng of passengers waiting for Shiv Ganga express.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Investigation
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant outfit, whose member was shot dead in an encounter with police near Lucknow on Wednesday, were prima facie behind the blasts in Varanasi, a senior Uttar Pradesh government official said in Varanasi on Wednesday.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Investigation
Uttar Pradesh, Chief Secretary, Mr. Sinha said bombs were made in Bihar. The material to make bombs was procured in Nepal which was then smuggled across the porous Indo-Nepal border.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Official response
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm. A state of high alert was declared in India's major cities. Police were sent to all major places of worship in New Delhi. India's Cabinet Committee on Security met in emergency session. Varanasi shut down Wednesday to protest the blasts; shops and businesses closed, and authorities closed schools and colleges. It reopened on 9 March.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Official response
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, claimed that UP Police killed one of the suspected Pakistani involved who turned out to be a resident of Madhya Pradesh, but he was part of Lashkar-e Taiba Islamic group and police were on the lookout for him in context of Delhi blasts of 2005.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Reactions, Domestic
The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm. A state of high alert was declared in India's major cities. Police were sent to all major places of worship in New Delhi. India's Cabinet Committee on Security met in emergency session. Varanasi shut down Wednesday to protest the blasts; shops and businesses closed, and authorities closed schools and colleges. [ 5] It reopened on 9 March. [ 6]


2006 Varanasi bombings, Reactions, Domestic
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, claimed that UP Police killed one of the suspected Pakistani involved who turned out to be a resident of Madhya Pradesh, but he was part of Lashkar-e Toiba Islamic group and police were on the lookout for him in context of Delhi blasts of 2005.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Suspects
A little known group calling itself the Lashkar-e Kahar/Qahab has claimed responsibility for the attacks. A spokesperson for the group who identified himself as Abdullah Jabbar alias Abu Feroz called a local news agency in Srinagar on Thursday morning to claim responsibility for the blasts and threatened similar attacks in other cities unless the government stopped its "catch and kill" campaign in Jammu and Kashmir. A staff of the TV channel said that Feroz spoke in Urdu with a heavy Punjabi accent.


2006 Varanasi bombings, Suspects
It is speculated that the bombings were carried out in retaliation of the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Toiba agent in Varanasi earlier in February 2006. Some analysts see a connection between the bombings and Hindu-Muslim clashes in the city of Lucknow on 4 March 2006 that left four people dead. These clashes started because of protests against the President of the United States George W. Bush's India visit. It is also believed that these attacks were a part of a series which included an attack at the IISc, Bangalore and also at the Akshardham Temple, Gujarat.


2006 Varanasi – The Untold
Varanasi is an upcoming Indian thriller Bollywood film, written and directed by Aryaman Keshu.


2006 Varanasi – The Untold
Raima Sen will be seen playing lead role in the film.


2006 Varanasi – The Untold, Plot
The film is partially inspired from the terror attacks that shook the holy city of Varanasi in 2006.


2006 Varanasi – The Untold, Production, Development
The official announcement of the film was announced in the second half of September 2016. The title of the film was said to be Varanasi.


2006 Varanasi – The Untold, Production, Casting
The makers of the film have decided to cast Raima Sen, along with Om Puri, Ravi Kishan and Rahul Dev in the film.


2006 Varanasi – The Untold, Production, Filming
The principal photography of the film will commence sometime in October 2016.


2006 Vattenfall Cyclassics
The 2006 edition of the Vattenfall Cyclassics cycle race took place in the German city of Hamburg on July 30, 2006. The race was the continuation of the old HEW Cyclassics, which no rider has won twice.


2006 Vaughan municipal election
The City of Vaughan 2006 Municipal Election took place on November 13, 2006. One mayor, three regional councillors and five local councillors were elected for the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. In addition, local school trustees were elected to the York Region District School Board, York Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud. These elections were held in conjunction with all other municipalities across Ontario, which for the first time elected politicians to four year terms, rather than three years as had previously been the case. (see 2006 Ontario municipal elections).


2006 Vaughan municipal election, Results
The 2006 municipal election in Vaughan saw a number of major upsets and a number of other close races - contrary to past results in the city elections. All but one incumbent were re-elected.


2006 Vaughan municipal election, Results, Mayor
In the Mayoral race, former Regional Councillor Linda Jackson unseated incumbent Mayor and former Regional Councillor Michael Di Biase. This was the first time since the incorporation of the City of Vaughan that an incumbent mayor had been defeated. Jackson took the place of her mother, Lorna Jackson who had held the position before she succumbed to cancer prior to Di Biase's tenure. After the final results came in, Di Biase called for a recount due to the extremely close result .


2006 Vaughan municipal election, Results, Mayor
However, he later called off the recount and filed an application for an injunction in the Ontario Superior Court requesting that the election be declared “illegal and void”   for a number of reasons including faulty vote-counting machines. On November 22, Di Biase again reversed his decision, asking City Council to support a recount. The results of the recount were released Nov. 30. Jackson was once again declared mayor with 28,402 votes over Di Biase's 28,308.


2006 Vaughan municipal election, Results, Regional Councillors
With Jackson no longer serving as a Regional Councillor, only two incumbents ran for that position, Mario Ferri and Joyce Frustaglio. In a surprise result, Frustaglio took first place in the race, making her the Deputy Mayor, a post held since Di Biase became Mayor by Mario Ferri. The third position was filled by a former Local and Regional Councillor, Gino Rosati.


2006 Vaughan municipal election, Results, Local Councillors
All five Ward Councilor positions were won by the incumbents, with many difficult challenges coming from former city staff and councillors.


2006 Vaughan municipal election, Candidates, Regional Council
Because Joyce Frustaglio received the highest vote count among the candidates for Regional Councillor, she is styled as the acting Mayor in cases where the Mayor is unavailable. However commonly confused, this is a different role than being the Deputy Mayor


2006 Vaughan municipal election, Controversy
Following the November 2006 election, former mayor Michael Di Biase appealed the results of the elections citing possible errors in the ballot counting machines. The results were reviewed following a decision in his favour in Ontario Superior Court, concluding that the original result, the election of Jackson as mayor, was the correct one.


2006 Veikkausliiga
The 2006 season of the Veikkausliiga the 17th season in the league's history, which began on April 19 and ended on October 29. The league was originally supposed to have 14 teams, but AC Allianssi was refused a license, so the league was subsequently played with only 13 teams.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 3 December 2006 to elect a president for a six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007. The contest was primarily between incumbent President Hugo Chávez, and Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales of the opposition party A New Era.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election
After winning a recall referendum in 2004, President Chávez positioned himself for re-election in 2006 for a second full term. The opposition did not hold a primary, instead, the candidates reached a consensus into backing the governor of the largest state (Zulia), Manuel Rosales. Chávez benefited from a high popularity, and led most opinion polls throughout the campaign. He went to win re-election by the widest margin by percentage of the popular vote since the 1947 elections, and by the largest margin of votes cast in the history of Venezuela.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Candidates
There were fourteen candidates in total, making the ballot the largest in Venezuelan history. According to El Universal, this was caused by division among adherents to grassroots Chavismo.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Candidates, Primary election
Civil society organization Súmate recommended procedures for a primary, to be held on 13 August 2006, to choose the opposition candidate for the December 2006 presidential elections. Teodoro Petkoff, a Chávez critic, said that Súmate's procedure was authoritarian, comparing it to the Carmona Decree. Nine other candidates agreed to the terms for holding a primary, confirming their desire to allow the citizens to choose the opposition candidate.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Candidates, Primary election
Another candidate condemned Petkoff's remarks against Súmate, saying that Petkoff's statements did not help the country, and explaining that the conditions for holding a primary had been previously discussed between all of the candidates, including Petkoff. On 9 August, Súmate announced that the 13 August primary election would not be held, since the candidates had decided to back Manuel Rosales as the single opposition candidate. Machado said that the primary "initiative accomplished its goal and that Súmate would continue working to ensure clean elections and respect for citizens' rights".


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Chávez
Chávez's campaign manager Rafael Lacava said that the campaign was to be based on defending Venezuela's national sovereignty and promoting world peace. According to Unión Radio, Lacava added that a campaign theme was to be the "country's freedom to no longer be a North American colony". According to the Associated Press, Chávez launched his campaign "with warnings that Washington is trying to undermine December's presidential vote and destabilize Venezuela", saying "I am the candidate of the revolution and without a doubt I am the candidate of the national majority", dismissing other candidates as "tools of the U.S. government". El Universal reports that Chávez said, "In this electoral process there are two candidates only, namely Hugo Chávez and George W. Bush".


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Chávez
Chávez promised that if elected he would personally convoke a midterm recall referendum in the year 2010 without the need for petition signatures as was the case with the 2004 recall referendum. This consult would allow the voters of Venezuela to remove him from his post. He has said that if he won that recall referendum, he would then call for a referendum to ask the people for indefinite re-election to be put into the constitution. On 26 November Chávez made his final rally in Caracas; it was called "The Red Tide takes Caracas". Reuters estimated that hundreds of thousands participated. Chávez supporters packed several streets.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Rosales
Rosales said that the backbone of his government program was to be the social arena, saying it will be a "sound and well defined" program, including a "fair allocation of oil revenues by means of two axes– minimum wage for all unemployed and direct contribution to the underprivileged". The latter being promoted as Mi Negra which is a debit card handed out to the poor with monthly deposits from 20% of oil industry profits. Nevertheless, a poll shows 59% of the Venezuelan people rejected the Mi Negra program, preferring stable jobs.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Rosales
According to the Los Angeles Times, Rosales stated that Chávez was vulnerable on his "massive foreign aid programs, government-approved takeovers of land and buildings, and the perception that crime is increasing". Rosales said, "We will distribute land to the peasants, but we will buy it in such a way as to respect the principle of private property, just as we will respect those of human rights and social justice". Rosales would halt oil giveaways, "including sales of discounted oil to Cuba, until Venezuela reduced its high poverty rate".


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Rosales
The Associated Press reports that Rosales accuses Chávez of "overspending on a military buildup" and pledged "to use Venezuela's oil wealth to help the poor and improve education and health care", ridiculing Chávez's "claims of a possible war with the U.S." and saying, "Venezuela's real war should be against rampant street crime". Rosales held several large rallies around the country; the largest being "Las Avalanchas" in Caracas. Rallies were held in several states to try to get the Rosales campaign to be heard by as many people as possible. To close his election campaign, Manuel Rosales held a huge final rally in Caracas with an estimate by the Associated Press to be in the hundreds of thousands.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, No debate held
Rosales demanded a public debate, saying Chávez should choose the TV channel where the debate would be broadcast. He also said "I am waiting for him (Chávez) to have a debate with me broadcast by all the TV channels to allow Venezuelans to know what is the project and the vision of the country he has and the project and vision we have". Chávez declared he would not debate Rosales because "the candidates from the opposition do not even have the condition to debate a schoolboy or girl in sixth grade from a Bolivarian school".


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Slogans and ads, Chávez
Chávez launched his campaign with a slogan of 10 Millones de votos (10 million votes), On multiple occasions the campaign used the more combative "10 millones por el buche" (10 million votes down their throats). On 17 August 2006, while leading the oath at the national campaign headquarters (Commando Miranda), Chávez acknowledged that 10 million votes would be hard to attain.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Slogans and ads, Chávez
From 9 October, Chávez campaign used the slogans por amor (for love) and Chávez, victoria de Venezuela (Chávez, Venezuela's victory). They also used the slogan uh, ah, Chávez no se va (ooh, oh, Chávez won't go) from the 2004 recall referendum campaign. A poll conducted by Cifras Escenarios reported that 76.7% of Venezuelans liked the love message. The English translation of the message is as follows:


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Slogans and ads, Chávez
Always, I have done everything out of love. For the love of trees and rivers, I became a painter. For the love of knowledge, studies, I left my dearest village, to study. For the love of sports I became a ball player. For the love of the motherland I became a soldier. For the love of the people I became President, you made me President. I have ruled these years out of love. For love we did Barrio Adentro. For love we did Mission Robinson. For love we did Mercal. We have done everything for love. There is a lot left to do. I need more time. I NEED YOUR VOTE. YOUR VOTE FOR LOVE.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Campaign, Slogans and ads, Rosales
¡ Ni el imperio, ni el barbudo! (Neither the [U.S.] empire, nor the [Cuban] bearded one!) is a slogan used by Rosales in launching his campaign, intended to "hit Chávez where the Venezuelan comandante is most vulnerable: his penchant for giving away billions of dollars to foreign countries, while nearly half of the Venezuelan people live in poverty" referring to subsidized oil deals to both Cuba and the United States. "We are not going to be the empire's defenders," Rosales said. "The empire must respect our sovereignty, and we must respect the empire," and "we cannot be looking at societies like Cuba as a model to be copied. We want modernity, transformation, development."


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Opinion polls
(++) This poll was attributed to the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. University's authorities clarified that they have not knowledge about this study. One of members of the CEPS happen to be a university faculty.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Opinion polls, International markets
International markets largely saw a Chávez victory. Rafael de la Fuente of BNP Paribas stated "The market expects a Chávez victory, they don't even question it". Ricardo Amorim of WestLB Research "The vision I see is that of a 20-point victory... We would be surprised if he does not win". Patrick Esteruelas of Eurasia Group saw Chávez winning by 60 percent. Also arguing that a high turnout would benefit Chávez, Goldman Sachs dismissed the close polling arguing, "Chávez is the favorite to win the election due to vast control of logistical and financial state resources, and influence over key institutions".


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct
Four organisations were given permission to send official election observers to monitor the elections: Carter Center, European Union, Mercosur and Organization of American States. A fifth organisation was refused permission: Cortes Generales (Spanish parliament).


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct
Polling stations opened at 6:00 a.m. but newspaper El Universal reported that in some electoral centers, voters waited in line since 3:00 a.m. According to the National Electoral Council(CNE) director Humberto Castillo, the turnout in polling stations was massive, and the conditions were "normal" throughout the country. Polling station were scheduled to close at 4:00 p.m. Around 5 p.m., CNE president Tibisay Lucena officially announced the end of the voting process, but gave orders to keep polling stations open if voters still remained in line.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct
Rosales' campaign team denounced irregularities in the closing of some voting booths, saying that Plan República—the armed forces sent to guard the electoral process—would not let some electoral centers be closed even though no voters remained in line. Rosales' spokesman also alerted about the reopening of already closed centers. CNE member Vicente Díaz later reaffirmed that all polling stations without voters in line must be closed, and that no booths under any circumstances could be reopened.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct
The Carter Center concluded that the elections were "fair, transparent and without serious irregularities". Carter Center praised "the civic spirit of the elections" and hoped that "other Latin American nations will follow Venezuela's example in the future". However, a study conducted by Ezequiel Zamora (former vicepresident of the CNE), Freddy Malpica (former rector of the Universidad Simón Bolívar), Guillermo Salas (USB professor), Jorge Tamayo (UCV professor), Ramiro Esparragoza (UCV professor), four statistics experts and three computer engineers concluded in January 2007 that the 2006 presidential elections presented "important statistical inconsistencies, despite the fact that the opposition candidate recognized the results".


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct
They argued that the elections results of many electoral centers showed a very regular statistical distribution of the votes in favor of Rosales in comparison with the dispersion of the votes for Chávez. This suggest that the regularities are the possible result of numerical ceilings embedded in the voting machines. Also there seems to be a regular statistical abstention of 25% in most electoral centers and no signs of dispersion. They have recommended further studies of the data in order to understand the deficiencies of the Venezuelan electoral system and in order to have a "minimum of transparency" in any future electoral process.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct, Concerns over the Electoral Registry
Opposition candidates and political parties voiced concerns over possible inaccuracies of the national electoral registry. Previous elections had shown that there might be a great number of deceased people still on the records. The CNE audited the Registry on multiple occasions; the first occurred in early 2006 by IIDH-CAPEL (Costa Rican Human Right org) that concluded there was nothing found that delegitimized the registry. A second review process started in mid-2006 where the CNE asked all the public universities of Venezuela to conduct also an external review of the electoral registry.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct, Concerns over the Electoral Registry
However, the review project presented by the Central University of Venezuela, Simón Bolívar University and the Andrés Bello Catholic University was rejected by the CNE. One of the proposed methods by these institutions was comparing census data with the electoral registry. They nevertheless ran their audit in parallel and the representative of the three institutions José Miguel Bernardo concluded "In practice [these errors] do not favor the government and their distribution is uniform." A second mathematician involved in the audit, Raúl Jiménez, concluded "One must be responsible. The electoral registry is a disaster and the CNE has done nothing to improve it, but there is nothing to indicate a political intention in the anomalies."


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct, Concerns over the Electoral Registry
The CNE performed the third audit with the aid of seven other public universities and with the Carter Center and two senators from the Belgian parliament observing the audit. The senators were Jacinta de Roeck, independent, and Sfia Bouarfa, from the French-speaking Socialist Party.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct, Concerns over the Electoral Registry
In June 2006, a privately funded preliminary study by Genaro Mosquera, a statistics professor at the Central University and member of the political party Democratic Action,claimed that in the last three years the registry grew 27% compare to a population growth of only 7.3% during those years and also a much larger growth than the regular increase of the registry of 12% every five years between 1948 and 2000. One of the flagship government Bolivarian Missions was Mission Identidad, where roughly 5 million citizens were awarded an ID card and the right to register and vote. Also, by comparing the official population numbers provided with by the Office of National Statistics with the CNE registry, there seems to be more register voters of 45 years of age and over than actual population.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct, Concerns over the Electoral Registry
According to NGO Ojo Electoral (Electoral Eye) preliminary results of a comparison between the Electoral Registry and demographic projections of the National Institute of Statistics (INE) suggests that inconsistencies in the voter data base cannot modify the results of the election.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Conduct, Other concerns
The opposition claimed there was unfair pressure by the government against governmental workers who might not want to support the president. They released a video that showed energy minister and head of PDVSA, Rafael Ramírez, telling state oil workers to back President Hugo Chávez or to leave their jobs. He also said PDVSA is red "from top to bottom"(PDVSA es roja, rojita de arriba abajo). He also said that PDVSA's "workers are with this revolution, and those who aren't should go somewhere else. Go to Miami." Opposition media outlets have been repeating the 14-minute video over and over again. President Chávez said he supported the PDVSA director and recommended him to make the same speech to oil workers 100 times a day. The CNE opened an investigation into Rafael Ramírez following the protests from the opposition and Ramírez was eventually fined.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Results
The 29 January 2007 report from the CNE showed the following results:


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Results, Electoral audits
Even though a fair number of international observers were present, the CNE instituted an open and public series of audits of the vote results. Each one of the 11,118 automated polling places was equipped with multiple high-tech touch-screen DRE voting machines, one to a "mesa electoral," or "voting table." In total, 32,331 voting machines were in use country-wide. After the vote is cast, each machine prints out a paper ballot, or VVPAT, which is inspected by the voter and deposited in a ballot box belonging to the machine's table.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Results, Electoral audits
The voting machines perform in a stand-alone fashion, disconnected from any network until the polls close. Voting session closure at each of the voting stations in a given polling center is determined either by the lack of further voters after the lines have emptied, or by the hour, at the discretion of the president of the voting table.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Results, Tally scrutinization
After the polls close at any voting table, the following steps are carried out:


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Results, Random paper ballot audit
Once the tally scrutinization is complete the staff proceeds to perform a random paper ballot audit of 54.31% of the machines. Each voting center can have anywhere from one to twelve voting machines, occasionally up to fifteen. The staff randomly selects the tables/machines by drawing a number out of a paper hat. The size of the draw is dependent on the number of tables/machines.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Reactions
Shortly after the first set of partial results was broadcast on the night of the election, Chávez appeared on the Balcón del Pueblo (People's Balcony) in the presidential palace to celebrate his victory and address his followers. Chávez announced that a new era has started in Bolivarian development, focused in the expansion of the Bolivarian Revolution.


2006 Venezuelan presidential election, Reactions
That same night, Manuel Rosales made a brief speech to the nation, recognizing that he had been defeated. But he insisted that the two exit poll studies his supporters had made, and the results of the audits, showed a narrower difference between him and Chávez than was reported by Lucena. Rosales said in his speech that he and his supporters "will be in streets to prove that the results by the National Electoral Council are not correct, that the gap is narrower that what presented."


2006 Vermont elections
The Vermont Election in 2006 consisted of elections for federal, state, and local elections. All state offices were for two years; all terms expired in 2006. Elections included the gubernatorial, all state offices, including all state senators and representatives, the federal Congress and the U.S. Senate.


2006 Vermont elections
A primary election in August determined which candidates parties would choose to run in the general election in November.


2006 Vermont elections, Auditor of Accounts
In 2006, a close general election for Auditor of Accounts prompted a recount which overturned the original count. This was one of two state results overturned anywhere in the nation from 1980 through 2006. It was the seventh recount in Vermont's history and the only one that overturned an original count.


2006 Vermont elections, Auditor of Accounts, Election and recount
Unofficial election night results had Democrat Thomas M. "Tom" Salmon losing to Republican incumbent Randolph D. "Randy" Brock by over 800 votes. But when the certified results were announced a few days later, Brock was leading by only 137 votes (with over 250,000 votes cast). Given the closeness of the election, Salmon, in accordance with Title 17, section 2602(b) of the state statutes, then petitioned the Washington County Superior Court for a recount.


2006 Vermont elections, Auditor of Accounts, Election and recount
As recounted results began coming in from the state's 14 Counties, Brock's lead soon disappeared, and Salmon took the lead.


2006 Vermont elections, Auditor of Accounts, Election and recount
On December 21, 2006 Superior Court Judge Mary Miles Teachout declared Salmon the winner by a margin of 102 votes over Brock.


2006 Vermont elections, Auditor of Accounts, Election and recount
This was the first statewide recount in Vermont in 26 years. According to the state archivist, it is also the first time in the state's history that a certified election was overturned on the basis of a recount. Also, according to Brock, this may have been the closest statewide election in the state's history.


2006 Vermont elections, Auditor of Accounts, Results
The unofficial recount results as of December 19, 2006, as reported by the Vermont Secretary of State's office  (these results do not include small changes due to the counting of 62 provisional and vote by phone ballots, and due to the court's resolution of a small number of disputed ballots, that were included in the final results):


2006 Vermont gubernatorial election
The 2006 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Governor Jim Douglas won re-election to a third term, defeating Democratic nominee Scudder Parker.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election
The 2006 Victoria Park state by-election was a by-election held on 11 March 2006 for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Victoria Park in the inner southeastern suburbs of Perth.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Background
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labor member Dr Geoff Gallop on 16 January 2006. Gallop had represented the area since a by-election on 7 June 1986, and had served as a minister, shadow minister, Opposition Leader (1996–2001) and, finally, as Premier of Western Australia since 2001. Gallop announced his resignation as Premier and from State Parliament effective immediately in order to aid his recovery from depression, and that "in the interests of my health and my family, I've decided to rethink my career."


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Background
The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly advised Parliament on 7 March 2006 that he had received a letter from Gallop on 25 January announcing his resignation as the member for Victoria Park, and announced that under section 67(2) of the Electoral Act 1907, he had on 2 February 2006 directed the Acting Electoral Commissioner to proceed with an election in the district.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Background
The battle for Labor party preselection was hard fought, with 31-year-old DPP lawyer Ben Wyatt defeating former national president of the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union, Helen Creed, at a vote on 1 February 2006 of the 14-member Administrative Committee. The by-election, called for 11 March 2006, attracted a total of eleven candidates, one of the largest in Western Australian electoral history.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Background
The seat of Victoria Park, which elects a single member to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly using a preferential method, was established in 1929 by the Government of Western Australia under the Redistribution of Seats Act (No 1 of 1929), which was given assent by the Governor on 15 April 1929. The seat is considered a safe Labor Party seat, and has been held by the party between 1930 and 1945, and since the 1953 state election.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Candidates
The by-election attracted eleven candidates, significantly more than the previous Victoria Park election, which attracted only five candidates. Both major parties fielded a candidate, with the Greens, One Nation, Daylight Saving Party, Family First, the Christian Democrats and the unregistered Socialist Alliance also represented, as well as three independents.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Candidates
One Nation candidate Sue Bateman made national headlines when it emerged that she was running for the seat of Victoria Park. The former One Nation president was accused of being a prolific online racist, using the forum Stormfront. She was also dismissive of Gallop's battle with depression, saying that average Joe did not have the luxury of becoming depressed.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Results
As largely predicted, Ben Wyatt retained the seat for the Labor party, with a swing against him of 4.86%. Wyatt claimed victory within two hours and became one of three Aboriginal parliamentarians in Western Australia.


2006 Victoria Park state by-election, Results
Voter turnout was low, given that Victoria Park is a safe Labor seat, with only 64% of voters casting their vote: the lowest for a by-election in the state since 1936.


2006 Victorian state election
The 2006 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 25 November 2006, was for the 56th Parliament of Victoria. Just over 3 million Victorians registered to vote elected 88 members to the Legislative Assembly and, for the first time, 40 members to the Legislative Council under a proportional representation system. The election was conducted by the independent Victorian Electoral Commission.


2006 Victorian state election
The Labor Party government of Premier Steve Bracks, first elected in 1999, won a third consecutive term with 55 of the 88 lower house seats, down seven from the 62 Labor won in 2002. The Liberal Party opposition of Ted Baillieu won 23 seats, and the National Party led by Peter Ryan won nine seats. One independent member was re-elected, while one lost his seat. Labor lost Bayswater, Evelyn, Ferntree Gully, Hastings, Kilsyth, Morwell and Narracan.


2006 Victorian state election
In the Legislative Council, Labor won 19 of the 40 seats, the Liberals 15, the Greens three, the Nationals two and the Democratic Labour Party one. This was the first time the DLP had won a seat in the Victorian Parliament since 1955.


2006 Victorian state election
Steve Bracks became only the second Labor Premier of Victoria to win three elections, and the first to win a third election with a large majority. Despite speculation that he would become the longest-serving Labor Premier in Victoria, he resigned in July 2007 and was replaced by his treasurer John Brumby.


2006 Victorian state election, Results, Legislative Assembly
Victorian state election, 25 November 2006Legislative Assembly << 2002–2010 >>


2006 Victorian state election, Results, Legislative Council
Victorian state election, 25 November 2006Legislative Council << 2002–2010 >>


2006 Victorian state election, Key dates
Terms are now fixed at four years. Key dates for the election were:


2006 Victorian state election, Key dates
The polls were open from 8 am to 6 pm, and results began to posted at about 7pm. By the close of counting at about 11 pm, the result in most Legislative Assembly seats was clear. Counting in the new Legislative Council regions, which have enrolments of over 300,000 voters, was in its early stages and the results were not clear at the close of counting.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
The Parliament of Victoria consists of the lower house Legislative Assembly, the upper house Legislative Council and the Queen of Australia. Eighty-eight members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to four-year terms from single-member electorates. After this election the new Legislative Council consisted of 40 members—the five members for each of the eight new regions were elected via proportional representation for four year terms.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
For decades, lower house districts covering metropolitan Melbourne have always been won by either ALP or Liberal candidates. At the 2002 election, however, the Victorian Greens emerged ahead of the Liberals to challenge Labor for inner-city seats such as Melbourne, Richmond, Brunswick and Northcote. The ALP was strongest, and arguably unchallenged, in most seats north and west of the Yarra River—Melbourne's traditional cultural divide.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
In fact, the Liberals had not held a metropolitan seat in the western suburbs since 1996, when they lost the seat of Essendon. At the 1996 election, the Liberals also lost Ivanhoe (their remaining seat north of the Yarra—Eltham—was lost in 2002). After the 2002 election landslide, the ALP held every Melbourne seat except for a thin band of strong Liberal seats in the eastern suburbs. To win government, the Liberals needed to win back their traditional heartland seats in eastern and south-east Melbourne.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
For the Liberals and Nationals to win government with a majority of lower house seats, they needed a uniform swing of nearly 8 per cent to gain 20 seats, which would result in them almost doubling their numbers.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
The ALP's success in 1999 and 2002 was partly due to its success in regional Victoria. To hold onto power, the ALP sought to retain seats outside Melbourne, and to hold its eastern suburban gains in 2002.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
The Liberals aimed to win back urban fringe seats in eastern Melbourne, such as Gembrook, Hastings and Evelyn, and retain their marginal seats.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
The Nationals had suffered heavily in recent years from the abolition of country seats they easily won, the rise of independents in Mildura and Gippsland East and direct competition from the Liberals. They aimed to hold on to their seven rural seats and also get members elected to the new upper house.


2006 Victorian state election, Background
Under the new structure of the Legislative Council, the number of members dropped from 44 to 40 after this election. This introduced considerable competition within all parties for preselection for Legislative Council seats. The switch from provinces electing one member at a time to regions electing five members also meant that the major parties were more likely to lose seats to smaller parties such as the Greens. The balance in the 2002-2006 Legislative Council was ALP 24, Liberals 14, Nationals 4 and 2 independents (both of whom were former ALP members).


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
With a huge majority in the lower house, the Bracks Labor government was expected to be re-elected.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
The Nationals leader Peter Ryan had terminated the Coalition agreement in mid-2000 after losing Benalla, when it became apparent that the minority Bracks Government would serve out its term. This allowed the Nationals to maintain a distinct profile from the Liberals over the succeeding years, demonstrated during the 2002 Labor landslide when the Nationals won back Benalla.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
Tensions emerged between the conservative parties over issues such as the Liberal policy of halving tolls on the EastLink freeway. Peter Ryan stated that his party did not back the policy, because it would mean public money was spent on motorists in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, at the expense of services for country Victorians.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
The Nationals also took offence at then Liberal leader Robert Doyle's repeated statement that the Liberals only needed 20 seats to win government, a figure which implied the support of the Nationals.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
During March 2006, Phil Honeywood, the Deputy Opposition Leader, then Victor Perton both announced they would not contest the next election. This contributed to ongoing speculation about Robert Doyle's leadership, during which Ted Baillieu emerged as a possible challenger. Tensions between the Liberal factions were temporarily resolved with the appointment of Louise Asher as deputy opposition leader, with Doyle retaining the leadership unchallenged.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
Robert Doyle's media director Rob Clancy's resignation became public on 26 April 2006, two weeks after his chief of staff Ron Wilson left for a job in the private sector. The Liberal Party state president Helen Kroger is another Doyle supporter who moved on. This string of resignations raised questions about the strength of Doyle's team in the lead up to the election. In response, Doyle denied that people were leaving because they did not think the party could win the election and that the resignations did not reflect well on the Liberals.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
Strong rumours of an imminent "forced resignation" and Doyle "losing the support of the party" were aired on the front page of Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper on 4 May 2006. Doyle did indeed resign as both Opposition Leader and MP for Malvern that day, although he stated that the "decision was his own" and that "his best was not enough to lead the party to victory in a state election just six months away".


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
On 5 May 2006, it became clear that Ted Baillieu would become Opposition and Liberal Party Leader after former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett and Shadow Minister for Transport Terry Mulder both withdrew from the leadership race. Baillieu was subsequently elected unopposed on 8 May 2006.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
With declining voter support over the last two Victorian state elections the Nationals almost lost Third Party status in the 2002 State Election. They entered the 2006 election with 11 seats (7 in the Legislative Assembly and 4 in the Legislative Council), the minimum required to for official party status. Several of their Assembly seats were marginal, particularly Shepparton (4.27 percent) and Benalla (1.97 percent).


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
Several commentators predicted that the Nationals would face destruction at this election. The changes to the Legislative Council created large country regions which would negate the personal appeal of several candidates. Upper house member Bill Baxter became the candidate for the lower house electorate of Benambra in an attempt to remain in Parliament.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
In the absence of a Liberal/National coalition, preference deals between Labor and the Liberals looked set to crush Nationals representation in the Assembly as well. Leader Peter Ryan gave what one commentator called "the speech of the campaign thus far" on 16 November, when he lambasted the major parties for their (perceived) action against the Nationals. The party went on to win an additional two seats.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
The Greens' Greg Barber, former City of Yarra mayor, won the fourth seat in the upper house region of Northern Metropolitan, where the Greens were considered most likely to win their first seat in the Victorian Parliament. Sue Pennicuik, previously co-covener of the state party, also won the fourth upper house seat Southern Metropolitan region. Colleen Hartland won an upper house seat as well, the fifth seat in the Western Metropolitan Region. Bill Pemberton was preselected as the lead upper house candidate in the Eastern Metropolitan Region but was not elected.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
In the lower house, Dr Richard Di Natale needed a 2.4 percent swing in the seat of Melbourne to unseat Labor's cabinet minister Bronwyn Pike, but wasn't successful in taking the seat from her, although he came quite close. Gurm Sekhon also wasn't successful in winning a seat, he needed a 3.1 percent swing in the seat of Richmond to unseat Labor's Richard Wynne.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
The two current independent lower house MPs, Russell Savage (Mildura) and Craig Ingram (Gippsland East) had comfortable margins and were therefore considered highly likely to be re-elected. However, Russell Savage lost his seat to the Nationals, with the planned Nowingi toxic waste dump in the electorate cited as one of the main factors contributing to his defeat.


2006 Victorian state election, Background, State of the parties
The fate of the two independent upper house MPs was less clear. Maverick Labor-turned-independent MLC Dianne Hadden attempted to shift to the lower house and run in Ballarat East against the incumbent Labor MP Geoff Howard, but no polling was carried out as to the potential result. Liberal-turned-independent Andrew Olexander attempted to retain his seat in the Legislative Council, having attempted to build a profile for himself after being expelled from the Liberal Party over disputes stemming from a drink driving conviction.


2006 Victorian state election, Polling
Polling conducted by Newspoll and published in The Australian is performed via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes usually consist of over 1000 electors, with the declared margin of error at ±3 percent.


2006 Victory Shield
The Victory Shield 2006 was the 61st edition of the Victory Shield, an annual football tournament competed for by the Under 16 level teams of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It was held from 13 October to 8 December 2006 and was won by England.


2006 Victory Shield, Results
The game was scheduled to take place at Bootham Crescent in York, but due a waterlogged pitch it game was played at Glanford Park.


2006 Virginia Cavaliers football team
The 2006 Virginia Cavaliers football team represented the University of Virginia in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Al Groh. They played their home games at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.


2006 Virginia Cavaliers football team, Preseason
Coming off an up and down season, the 2006 Virginia Cavaliers looked to continue their success while initiating a new starting quarterback.


2006 Virginia Question 1
2006 Virginia Question 1, the Marshall-Newman Amendment (also referred to as the Virginia Marriage Amendment) is an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that defines marriage as solely between one man and one woman and bans recognition of any legal status "approximat[ing] the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage". The amendment was ratified by 57% of the voters on November 7, 2006. It became part of the state Constitution as Section 15-A of Article 1. In 2014, the amendment was ruled unconstitutional in Bostic v. Schaefer.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Text
Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions. This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Enactment, Legislative process
The Virginia Constitution requires amendments to be passed in two different sessions separated by a general election. The amendment, named after Delegate Bob Marshall and Senator Stephen Newman, was approved by the Virginia General Assembly in the 2005 and 2006 sessions, which were separated by the November 2005 general election. It was thus put on the November 2006 election ballot for approval by voters.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Criticism
The far-reaching nature of the Marshall-Newman Amendment intended to reinforce its Marriage Affirmation Act has attracted criticism. Writing in The Washington Post, Jonathan Rauch argued that:


2006 Virginia Question 1, Criticism
Virginia appears to abridge gay individuals' right to enter into private contracts with each other. On its face, the law could interfere with wills, medical directives, powers of attorney, child custody and property arrangements, even perhaps joint bank accounts. If a gay Californian was hit by a bus in Arlington, her medical power of attorney might be worthless there.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Criticism
Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell issued a 2006 opinion stating that the amendment does not change the legal status of documents such as contracts, wills, or advance health care directives between unmarried people.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Ruling of unconstitutionality
On February 13, 2014, U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled that the amendment was unconstitutional, and ordered Virginia not to enforce it against same-sex couples. In her opinion, Judge Allen granted a stay pending appeal. Judge Wright Allen confused the Declaration of Independence for the US Constitution when stating on the first page of her opinion: "Our Constitution declares that 'all men' are created equal. Surely this means all of us." After considerable comment on this was made by several judicial observers, including South Texas College of Law professor Josh Blackman, Judge Wright Allen issued a second draft stating: "Our Declaration of Independence recognizes that 'all men' are created equal."


2006 Virginia Question 1, Ruling of unconstitutionality
On February 13, 2014, a U.S. District Court in Norfolk ruled that the amendment was unconstitutional in the case Bostic v. Schaefer, though the Judge stayed her ruling pending appeal.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Ruling of unconstitutionality
On July 28, 2014, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2–1 opinion upholding the lower court's decision, although this was also appealed.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Ruling of unconstitutionality
On October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States denied a writ of certiorari and thus let the Fourth Circuit Court's decision stand, which legalized same-sex marriage in Virginia.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Ruling of unconstitutionality
Since the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015, all such bans throughout the United States are unconstitutional.


2006 Virginia Question 1, Repeal attempts
Although the amendment is unconstitutional and unenforceable since 2014, it remains part of the Virginia Constitution. Legislators, including State Senator Adam Ebbin (D) and Delegate Mark Sickles (D), have introduced bills in 2015 and 2016 aiming to repeal the amendment. Ebbin prefiled another bill to repeal the amendment on November 18, 2019, which the Senate voted to continue in 2021.


2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team
The 2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Frank Beamer. The team tallied a 10–3 record, going 10–2 during the regular season before losing 31–24 in the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs.


2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team, Preseason
Virginia Tech began the season ranked #16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and #17 in the Associated Press Poll after going 11–2 (7–1 ACC) in 2005 and winning the Coastal division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.


2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team, Personnel, Roster
Starters are in bold and players who left the team are struck out Players who sat out during 2006 ("redshirted") are indicated with a "red shirt" icon


2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team, Discipline issues
The first half of Virginia Tech's season was characterized by a lack of discipline for the Hokies, both on and off the field.


2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team, Discipline issues
Tech's discipline troubles came to a head when the Hokies were blown out in consecutive weeks by Georgia Tech and Boston College. Beamer responded by cracking down on trash-talking, personal fouls, and other negative behaviors. The team responded and committed no personal fouls and only two defensive penalties total in the three games following the BC loss.


2006 Virginia Tech Hokies football team, Defense
Virginia Tech finished the regular season leading the nation in total defense, scoring defense, and pass defense. This was the second year in a row that defensive coordinator Bud Foster's unit had led the nation in total defense.


2006 Virginia ballot measures
The 2006 Virginia State Elections took place on Election Day, November 7, 2006, the same day as the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate elections in the state. The only statewide elections on the ballot were three constitutional referendums to amend the Virginia State Constitution. Because Virginia state elections are held on off-years, no statewide officers or state legislative elections were held. All referendums were referred to the voters by the Virginia General Assembly.


2006 Virginia ballot measures, Question 1
The most controversial amendment on the ballot was the Marshall-Newman Amendment (named after the amendment's co-sponsors), which was also known as the "Virginia Marriage Amendment". This amendment defines civil marriage as solely between one man and one woman and bans state recognition of any other legal relationship status, such as a domestic partnership or a civil union. Voters were asked the following question:


2006 Virginia ballot measures, Question 1
"Shall Article I (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to state: "That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions. This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.? "


2006 Virginia ballot measures, Question 1
Although the amendment was approved by 57.1% of the voters, it was later struck down for being unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen on February 13, 2014 in the case Bostic v. Schaefer. Her ruling was appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld her decision on July 28, 2014. The Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari on October 6, 2014, which legalized same-sex marriage in Virginia.


2006 Virginia ballot measures, Question 2
The amendment asked voters to delete an obsolete provision that prohibited the incorporation of churches which was ruled unconstitutional by the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in the case Falwell v. Miller in 2002. The amendment passed after being narrowly rejected in 1996.


2006 Virginia ballot measures, Question 3
The Local Tax Exemption Amendment gives local communities that ability to allow partial exemptions from property taxes under certain circumstances. Voters were asked the following question:


2006 Virginia ballot measures, Question 3
"Shall Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to authorize legislation to permit localities to provide a partial exemption from real property taxes for real estate with new structures and improvements in conservation, redevelopment, or rehabilitation areas?"


2006 Viva World Cup
The 2006 Viva World Cup was the first Viva World Cup, an association football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA, which took place in Occitania from 20 November 2006 to 24 November 2006.


2006 Viva World Cup, Tournament Background, The Inaugural Tournament
In April 2005, the NF-Board announced that Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus had been chosen to host the inaugural VIVA World Cup, having successfully hosted a tournament to celebrate 50 years of the KTFF, the KTFF 50th Anniversary Cup, featuring fellow NF-Board member Sápmi and FIFA-unaffiliated Kosovo. The NF-Board hoped that sixteen teams would take part, drawn from across its membership.


2006 Viva World Cup, Tournament Background, Controversy
In the Spring of 2005, a new government was elected in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, keen to foster relations with other nations. The NF-Board claimed that the government of Ferdi Sabit Soyer insisted on restricting which nations could and could not take part in order to head off potential political arguments. For their part, the KTFF claimed that the NF-Board made unreasonable financial demands.


2006 Viva World Cup, Tournament Background, Controversy
The upshot of this was that the NF-Board decided to grant the hosting rights for the tournament to Occitania. In response, the KTFF announced that they would hold their own tournament, the ELF Cup, scheduled for the same time as the VIVA World Cup. Some NF-Board members have accepted invitations to take part in the ELF Cup.


2006 Viva World Cup, Tournament Background, Occitania 2006
Occitania announced that the tournament would still be held from 19–25 November 2006, with games played in and around Hyères les Palmiers, near Toulon. The number of entrants was downsized to eight, in anticipation of the ELF Cup - which agreed to pay expenses - drawing NF-Board members away from the VIVA World Cup. However, a lack of suitable competitors meant that the tournament was to include six teams: Monaco, the Roma, the Sápmi, Southern Cameroons, West Papua, and the hosts.


2006 Viva World Cup, Tournament Background, Occitania 2006
However, the failure of West Papua and Southern Cameroon to attend the NF-Board General Assembly in September 2006, and logistical problems facing the Roma, threw new doubt on the tournament, which looked as though it may go ahead with just three teams. Fortunately, Southern Cameroons were able to agree to send a team, and four teams - twelve fewer than initially hoped for - were set to contest the title.


2006 Viva World Cup, Tournament Background, Occitania 2006
There were yet more problems for the organisers when Southern Cameroons were unable to take part because of visa problems, resulting in walkovers in all their games.


2006 Viva World Cup, Tournament Background, Occitania 2006
By the end of the week, Sápmi had triumphed, scoring 42 goals in their three games, and lifting the first VIVA World Cup trophy.


2006 Viva World Cup, Squads
For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see 2006 VIVA World Cup squads.


2006 Viva World Cup, Results
The four teams played a round-robin group stage, with the top two playing off for the title.


2006 Viva World Cup squads
Below are the squads for the 2006 VIVA World Cup tournament in Occitania.


2006 Viña del Mar International Song Festival
The 2006 Viña del Mar International Song Festival, or simply 2006 Viña del Mar Festival, was held on 22 to February 27, 2006 in the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, Viña del Mar, Chile. Transmitted and organized by Canal 13, was led by Ricardo de la Fuente y presented by Sergio Lagos and Myriam Hernández.


2006 Vladikavkaz Mi-8 crash
The 2006 Russian military Mil Mi-8 crash near Vladikavkaz  killed 12 Russian military men, mostly high-ranking officers, among them Lieutenant-General Pavel Yaroslavtsev, deputy chief for army logistics, Lieutenant-General Viktor Guliaev, deputy chief of army medical units, and Major-General Vladimir Sorokin.


2006 Vladikavkaz Mi-8 crash
The Ossetian rebel group Kataib al-Khoul claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter.


2006 Vodacom Challenge
The Vodacom Challenge 2006 was played between 15 July and 22 July 2006. The teams involved were:


2006 Vodacom Cup
The 2006 Vodacom Cup was the 9th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Premier and First Divisions.


2006 Vodacom Cup, Competition
There were 14 teams participating in the 2006 Vodacom Cup competition. All these teams played in a group stage, where teams would play all the teams once over the course of the season, either at home or away.


2006 Vodacom Cup, Competition
Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that score four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams losing a match by seven points or less. Teams were ranked by points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).


2006 Vodacom Cup, Competition
The top two teams in the group stage qualified for the final, where the team that finished first in the group stage had home advantage against the teams that finished second.


2006 Vodacom Cup, Teams, Team Listing
The following teams took part in the 2006 Vodacom Cup competitions:


2006 Volta a Catalunya
The 2006 Volta a Catalunya was the 86th edition of the Volta a Catalunya cycling race took place from 15 May to 21 May 2006, in Catalonia. The race began in Salou with an individual time trial and ended in Barcelona. The race was won by David Cañada of Spain.


2006 Volta a Catalunya, Teams
Twenty-five teams of up to eight riders started the race:


2006 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 1
15 May 2006 - Salou, 12.6 km (7.8 mi) (ITT)


2006 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 3
17 May 2006 - Salou to Sant Carles de la Ràpita, 160.6 km (99.8 mi)


2006 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 4
18 May 2006 - Perafort to Vallnord, 225 km (140 mi)


2006 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 5
19 May 2006 - Llívia to Manlleu, 161.5 km (100.4 mi)


2006 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 6
20 May 2006 - Manlleu to Lloret de Mar, 166.4 km (103.4 mi)


2006 Volta a Catalunya, Stages, Stage 7
21 May 2006: Lloret de Mar to Barcelona, 121.6 km (75.6 mi)


2006 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
The 2006 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana was the 64th edition of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana road cycling stage race, which was held from 21 February to 25 February 2006. The race started in Calpe and finished in Valencia. The race was won by Antonio Colom of the Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears team.


2006 Voyageurs Cup
The 2006 Voyageurs Cup was the fifth edition of the Voyageurs Cup tournament started by the Canadian supporters group The Voyageurs. The 2006 Edition of the tournament featured  Montreal Impact, Toronto Lynx and Vancouver Whitecaps.


2006 Voyageurs Cup
The 2006 Voyageurs Cup was won by Montreal Impact won by a single point in the table over the second place Toronto Lynx, clinching the competition in the final all-Canadian match of the 2006 USL season in a scoreless draw against the Linx on September 8, 2006. All three sides recorded a single win in the competition, however only Montreal was able to go undefeated against the other Canadian sides recording a win and three draws totaling six points in the table.


2006 Voyageurs Cup, Format
Each team played two matches (home and away) against each other team. All of these matches were drawn from the USL First Division 2006 regular season. The 2006 USL First Division was not a balanced home and away competition where each team played the others an equal number of times; only the final two matches played between each city's team is counted as a Voyageurs Cup 2006 match.


2006 Voyageurs Cup, Format
In each match, 3 points were awarded for wins (even had it come in extra time), 1 point was awarded for a draw, and 0 points were awarded for losses (even had it come in extra time). The four teams were ranked according to the total number of points obtained in all matches.


2006 Voyageurs Cup, Format
The team ranked highest after all matches have been played was to be crowned the champion, and would be awarded the Voyageurs Cup.


2006 Vrienden van het Platteland season
The 2006 women's road cycling season was the seventh season for the  Vrienden van het Platteland (UCI code: VVP) cycling team, which began as Ondernemers van Nature in 2000.