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Edited on Fri May-02-08 10:43 AM by stillcool47
AG: Recent Robo-Calls On Voting Info. Are Illegal
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008 - 10:00 PM Updated: 11:18 PM
By Steve Sbraccia
General Assignment Reporter
WNCN-TV
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Thousands of North Carolinians have received automated phone calls in the last few days that state officials said broke the law
The calls started last week as voters began getting automated phone messages telling them to expect a voter registration packet in the mail.
The problem was, North Carolina’s register-by-mail deadline had passed nearly two weeks earlier, and many who were already registered became confused.
As the complaints began to pile up, those cataloging them began to notice a pattern where certain groups seemed to be targeted.
The situation was brought to the attention of Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office. He said those automated phone calls are illegal.
“They don't identify the group sponsoring the call, nor do they give the recipient info as to who they need to contact to stop the calls from coming,” said Cooper.
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“A lot of the complaints came from African-American voters,” said Chris Kromm of the Institute for Southern Studies. “When we heard a lot of the complaints were coming from African-Americans, that really raised a red flag for us.”
Kromm also said the institute's research indicates the Women's Voice group has a number of interesting connections to Bill Clinton.
“They claim they're a non-profit, non partisan organization. But, its president is a recent donor to Hill-Pac, a big Hillary funding group. The executive director worked for Bill Clinton in his ‘92 campaign and the lawyer for the organization is the lawyer who defended Clinton during the impeachment crisis in the 90's,” said Kromm
FACING SOUTH EXCLUSIVE: D.C. nonprofit aimed at women voters behind deceptive N.C. robo-calls By Chris Kromm Facing South The D.C.-based nonprofit, led by well-connected Washington operatives, claims in a press release they sent to Facing South that the North Carolina calls are part of a 24-state effort targeted at a list of 3 million voters, especially unmarried women. The robo-calls, which never mention Women's Voices, are followed by mailings that include information on how to register to vote. They plan to mail some 276,000 packets in North Carolina alone.
But since last November, in at least 11 states nationwide, Women's Voices -- sometimes working through its Voter Participation Center project -- has developed a checkered reputation, drawing rebukes from leading election officials and complaints from thousands of would-be voters as a result of their secretive tactics, deceptive mailings and calls, and penchant for skirting or violating the law. For example:
* In Arizona last November, election officials were "inundated with complaints" after Women's Voices sent a mailing erroneously claiming that recipients were "required" to mail back an enclosed voter registration form. Many who received the mailing were already registered; the mailing also gave the wrong registration date. Secretary of State Jan Brewer denounced the group's tactics as "misleading and deceptive." A similar mailing in Colorado that month " fire and caused confusion," according to a state press release.
* In Wisconsin, state officials singled out Women's Voices for misleading and possibly disenfranchising voters, stating in a press release : "One group in particular -- Women's Voices. Women Vote, of Washington, D.C. -- apparently ignored or disregarded state deadlines in seeking to register voters," sending in registrations past the January 30 deadline and causing "hundreds of Wisconsin voters who think they registered in advance" to actually not be.
* Michigan officials ended up "fielding tons of calls from confused voters" after Women's Voices did a February mailing to "380,000 unmarried women" -- including numerous deceased voters and even more that were already registered. Sarah Johnson of Women's Voices "seemed confused by the confusion," the Lansing State Journal reported.
* A 1.5 million-piece Women's Voices mailing in Florida falsely stated: "To comply with state voting requirements, please return the enclosed application." Pasco County's elections supervisor called it "disingenuous"; another said it created "a lot of unnecessary panic on behalf of the voters," reported local newspapers. Sarah Johnson of Women's Voice said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
* By March, Women's Voices was backing off the erroneous "registration is required" language, but there were still problems. For example, a mailing in Arkansas allowed that "registering to vote is voluntary," but a clerk in Washington County reported that "the majority sent back to the county come from registered voters, causing needless labor for office employees."
Problems with the group's tactics have also been documented in Louisiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
In each state, the Women's Voices campaigns have brought the same news and the same themes, again and again: Deceptive claims and misrepresentations of the law -- sometimes even breaking the law. Wildly inaccurate mailing lists, supposedly aimed at "unregistered single women," but in reality reaching many registered voters as well as families, deceased persons and pets. Tactics that confuse voters and potentially disenfranchise them.
For such a sophisticated and well-funded operation, which counts among its ranks some of the country's most seasoned political operatives, such missteps are peculiar, as is the surprise expressed by Women's Voices staff after each controversy.
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/04/facing-south-exclusive-dc-nonprofit.asp
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