Please report online dirty tricks to Common Cause. kthxbai

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Could a dirty trick played online affect this year's election results?

As more and more people turn to the web for voting and election information, there is a real danger that so-called "deceptive practices" that we've seen offline will move online this year.

Help Common Cause track and expose online deceptive practices!

In past election cycles, we've seen misleading flyers that tell people that Republicans should show up to vote on Tuesday and Democrats should show up on Wednesday. Or that say if you've ever gotten a traffic ticket, you're not eligible to vote. (See real-life examples here.)

We've already seen how misinformation spread over the Internet can have an impact on the political campaign: the emails falsely claiming Obama is a Muslim; fake Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani websites with misleading statements; a website offering to register people to vote for $9.95, a process that is free; and the head of the NAACP having to release a statement that an email listing "10 Reasons Not to Vote for Hillary Clinton" supposedly authored by him was a hoax.

Will we see similar online misinformation campaigns regarding how to vote, who can vote, where to vote, and when to vote?

Think about how fast rumors and misinformation can circulate on the Internet. We can't afford to have this year's election called into question because of online dirty tricks.

If you see a website or receive an email with questionable voting information between now and Election Day, please let us know about it.

We're on the lookout for:
* Emails that appear to be from the Secretary of State or other election official, advocacy organizations, or some other supposed authority that contains false information about the voting process.
* Spoofed election administrator, government or advocacy organization websites with misinformation on the voting process.
* False information about how, when or where to vote spread through social networking sites like Facebook.

We're not looking for:
* Emails containing false information about a candidate, his/her record, or his/her policies.

Please let us know about any online deceptive practices that you see by going to www.commoncause.org/DeceptivePractices or forwarding suspect email messages to DeceptivePractices2008 {at} gmail.com. And please share this message with your friends.