Fraud present in voter drives, watchdog says

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Jul. 23, 2004

ELECTIONS


Fraud present in voter drives, watchdog says

People collecting signatures to put issues on the ballot are using improper methods, including misleading voters, the group VoteSmartFlorida asserts.


TALLAHASSEE - (AP) -- People gathering signatures to put citizen initiatives on the November ballot are using deceptive practices, such as asking voters to sign more than once, according to an election-reform group working to change the petition process.

VoteSmartFlorida, a business-backed group, said people paid to collect signatures also told voters who opposed the initiatives to sign the petitions so they could get the issues on the ballot and vote against them.

''We have discovered that certain paid gatherers will do or say almost anything in order to obtain signatures,'' said Mark Wilson, a VoteSmartFlorida spokesman and vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Because gatherers can earn between 50 cents and $10 per signature, and few regulations guide the process, ''deceptive practices are rampant,'' Wilson said.
VoteSmartFlorida used hidden cameras to record gatherers in store parking lots, and interviewed both gatherers and voters who signed petitions.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/9220195.htm
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[ashling]

1. This is a big problem

here in Washington state, too.

[Democat]

2. There is huge fraud in signature gathering

The people doing the gathering will say and do anything to get a signature.

[bushisanidiot]

3. They should NOT be paid per signature. That is just stupid!

idiots..

[w4rma]

4. $10 per signature? woah. (nt)

[Orangepeel]

5. ballot initiatives are the only way Florida voters have a voice

of course, our gerrymandered right wing legislature mostly ignores them anyway, but at least there is a chance for citizens to make themselves heard.

These corporate backed "votesmart" people are just mad because ACORN is going to get its minimum wage amendment on the ballot.

[struggle4progress]

6. Living Wage

ACORN is campaigning at the local and state levels to pass living-wage laws. These laws set higher minimum wages for the employees of companies benefiting from public contracts, subsidies, or actions, and in some cases also for direct government employees. Living-wage laws prevent the use of public dollars to create poverty-wage jobs.
http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=42&backPID=42&tt_news=3602