Voters Say They Were Duped Into Registering As Republicans - LATimes

[WillyT]

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SACRAMENTO -- 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.

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Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fraud18-2008oct18,0,1216330.story?track=ntothtml

Now doesn't this have a familiar ring to it???

:mad:

[jwirr]

1. Registration labels mean nothing once you step into the voters booth. nt

[Top Cat]

2. That's how they will try to steal the election... Not this time

[electionwatcher]

3. Voting can be a form of revenge!

When they go to vote, they can still vote Democrat. It will only increase the number of registered republicans switching to the other side.

[n2doc]

4. I would think this would be counterproductive

1, they will vote Dem anyway
2, harder to purge because they can't just go by party affiliation, have to figure out who is "true R and who has been tricked into it.

I don't get it.