Inflationary Numbers
by digby
Man, that ACORN sure is despicable with it’s underhanded registration practices. Something should be done about it:
Dozens of newly minted Republican voters say they were duped into joining the party by a GOP contractor with a trail of fraud complaints stretching across the country.
Voters contacted by The Times said they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters. Some said they were told that they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Others had no idea their registration was being changed.
“I am not a Republican,” insisted Karen Ashcraft, 47, a pet-clinic manager and former Democrat from Ventura who said she was duped by a signature gatherer into joining the GOP. “I certainly . . . won’t sign anything in front of a grocery store ever again.”
It is a bait-and-switch scheme familiar to election experts. The firm hired by the California Republican Party — a small company called Young Political Majors, or YPM, which operates in several states — has been accused of using the tactic across the country.
Election officials and lawmakers have launched investigations into the activities of YPM workers in Florida and Massachusetts. In Arizona, the firm was recently a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit. Prosecutors in Los Angeles and Ventura counties say they are investigating complaints about the company.
The firm, which a Republican Party spokesman said is paid $7 to $12 for each registration it secures, has denied any wrongdoing and says it has never been charged with a crime.
The 70,000 voters YPM has registered for the Republican Party this year will help combat the public perception that it is struggling amid Democratic gains nationally, give a boost to fundraising efforts and bolster member support for party leaders, political strategists from both parties say.
Those who were formerly Democrats may stop receiving phone calls and literature from that party, perhaps affecting its get-out-the-vote efforts. They also will be given only a Republican ballot in the next primary election if they do not switch their registration back before then.
Some also report having their registration status changed to absentee without their permission; if they show up at the polls without a ballot they may be unable to vote.
Golly, I’d bet if they look into it further they’ll find out that in spite of what we’ve been told, it was the Republicans who were responsible for the housing meltdown too. Shocking stuff.
But here’s the kicker:
Some also report having their registration status changed to absentee without their permission; if they show up at the polls without a ballot they may be unable to vote.
Oddly enough this happened to me in 2006. I did not request an absentee ballot and I didn’t turn one in. But they had me down as an absentee voter and I had to cast a provisional ballot. It’s a hassle to do it and if people are in a hurry, they may not bother. They told me to call back in a month to find out if my vote counted. I did and they didn’t know what I was talking about.
I have no idea how it happened. In my case it was probably some kind of computer glitch because I certainly didn’t change my registration or fill out any paperwork. But it was something of a shock and made me wonder if someone wasn’t playing around with my registration.
The good news is that if it happens, you can vote provisionally. But it’s the kind of this that’s designed to screw up the process and make people think twice about whether or not it’s worth it.
Update: FDL had more earlier this week on similar GOP shennanigans in California.
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