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Oct
18
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.
Investigations have been ongoing elsewhere:
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.
FYI, ACORN does not pay its canvassers per registration.
What’s the impact if you signed up with YPM:
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.
The Times randomly interviewed 46 of the hundreds of voters whose election records show they were recently re-registered as Republicans by YPM, and 37 of them — more than 80% — said that they were misled into making the change or that it was done without their knowledge.
And none of this is new:
It all sounds familiar to Beverly Hill, a Democrat and the former election supervisor in Florida’s Alachua County. About 200 voters — mostly college students — were unwittingly registered as Republicans there in 2004 by YPM staffers using the same tactic, Hill said.
“It is just incredible that this can keep happening election after election,” she said.
…
Two years ago, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas charged 12 workers for a petitioning firm hired by the local Republican Party with fraudulently registering voters as Republican.
For more information on Young Political Majors:
Florida students complain of being duped to change party affiliation
Here’s one of several job postings with promises of how much money you can make in just a few short hours!
More specific reports of YPM encounters in CA
These stories also make me really glad that in Ohio, we don’t register by party.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:46 pm October 18th, 2008 in Democrats, Elections, Ohio, Republicans, Voting, WH2008
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6 Responses to “Group paid by Republicans allegedly dupes people into registering for GOP”
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Well, where is the furor on Fox about this news? They were all over the Ohio news, since it’s a Democratic Sec. of State. This to me, is worse than ACORN, because ACORN was only dealing with getting people, all people, registered. This is a blatant attempt to make people switch parties. But I bet we hear not one word of “repudiation” from McCain and Palin…they can dish it out, on lies, but they aren’t responsible for either the hate language incited by their rallies, nor illegal Republican voter fraud.
how archaic is that to declare a party on a registration form. I thought that parties were declared when you voted in a primary and asked for a ballot for that party. Had no idea that there were states where a party was still asked for at registration. I was kind of amazed when I learned that GA is an open ballot primary no party declaration needed.
Why aren’t these voter registration laws more in line state to state? No wonder there is such confusion.
the word “allegedly” is all I needed to read. This has to be one of the lamest articles I’ve seen you re-post. Get everyone stirred up over something that probably didn’t happen…
Lada – that’s why there are so many hyperlinks – you can go read it for yourself – I’m just a blogger reposting what other news sources, including the LA Times have written. I suggest you email them to lodge your concerns.
The term “allegedly” is always used in journalism about criminal activities, until something has been proven in court. It’s to protect the newspaper from libel suits as much as it is to protect the accused from potentially unfounded speculation. However, the weight of evidence and level of investigation described in the article enables the astute reader to judge for themselves just how “allegedly” all this is.
If numerous anecdotal sources and past bad behavior isn’t enough… guess that’s your choice.
UPDATE: There’s been an arrest now.