Reply #11: A non-issue? [View All]

[stillcool]

AG: Recent Robo-Calls On Voting Info. Are Illegal
http://www.nbc17.com/media/NCN/2008/04/30/0022.Image.NULL,NULL.300,188,2,NULL,NULL.MGSpooler.img
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Thousands of North Carolinians have received automated phone calls in the last few days that state officials said the 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.
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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
http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-30-0016.html

Washington, D.C., Group Accused of High-Tech Dirty Tricks to Suppress Black Vote
By Sarah Lai Stirland EmailApril 30, 2008 | 5:41:18 PM
Categories: Election '08
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/north-carolin-1.html

A D.C. advocacy group called Women's Voices, Women's Vote is being accused of waging a high-tech voter suppression campaign, after voters in predominantly black districts in North Carolina began receiving automated phone calls implying that they hadn't properly registered to vote in the upcoming Democratic primary.

Voters began complaining to The Raleigh News & Observer last week that they were receiving the automated calls, which the paper reported were primarily going to black households. The calls play a 20-second message voiced by a man who calls himself "Lamont Williams."
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Don Powell, who runs a political phone-calling company in Portland, Oregon, says the fact that the autodial campaign was performed anonymously suggests it wasn't an innocent mistake. In general, he says, anonymous, automated campaigns are designed to suppress voter turnout.

"It does happen in North Carolina," he said. "It works, or they wouldn't bother. It's sleazy money, and it affects people like me who would never think about doing this.