Voters Say They Were Duped Into Registering as Republicans

Voters Say They Were Duped Into Registering as Republicans

www.latimes.com

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.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.sanfranciscosentinel.com
www.freeinternetpress.com
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.reddit.com

Hmmm, sounds like some republicans are getting a little desperate!

The company that was hired - YPM (Young Political Majors), was hired by the California Republican Party to go out and register people for the GOP, and they are paid $7 - $12 per registration.

Apparently they were playing the 'ol "bait & switch" tactic to get people to sign up republican! They told people that, to sign the petition, they had to write in that they were republican, but that it was just a "formality" and their party affiliation would not be changed.

The article states that 70,000 people were registered republican by the company, YPM, this year.

The article also states that the TIMES interviewed 46 people who were just registered as republican by the YPM, and 37 didn't even know that they had just registered republican!

This group has apparently done this same thing for the republican party before in 2004 in Florida where they signed up 200 college students who didn't realize they were jioning the republican party!

The groups founder, Mark Jacoby, apparently lied when he stated that, "plainclothes investigators for Secretary of State Debra Bowen, a Democrat, have conducted multiple spot checks and told his firm it is doing nothing improper. Every time, they gave us a thumbs-up," Jacoby said. "People are not being tricked."

But, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office stated that they don't "give an OK or seal of approval to voter registration groups."

Accusations have also come to light in Arizona and Massachusetts against YPM.

Don't know why the California Republican Party would hire a company to do this job who they knew in 2004 were "tricking" people into signing up republican!

www.latimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 10/19/2008 by Keyhole]

I think registering people to vote should be illegal. If someone wants to register to vote they should go down to the registrar of voters office and register themselves. That way the Registrar of Voters (an elected position) is responsible for any anomolies.

That means getting rid of ACORN, and the Motor Voter Law.

Otherwise you may be approaching people that may not be intelligent enough to vote, as shown by their confusion of what party they are signing up for.



[edit on 19-10-2008 by RRconservative]

Im not crazy about these types of things happening. But to be honest, im not sure why they would trick people into signing up as a republican. Just because you are a registered republican does not mean you are required to vote republican. You can still vote for who ever you like no matter what political party they are in.


Dont get me wrong, I would be very angry if I was tricked into changing my political party from one to another. But like I said. There is nothing preventing these people from voting the way they want to. Plus they can alway go change it back themselves. Inconvienient yes. Obnoxious yes. A way to trick people into voting one way or another no.



Dust

[edit on 19-10-2008 by gimme_some_truth]

reply to post by RRconservative


I'd have to agree with you there!

Sure would help "the system" get away from a lot of confusion and bickering!

[edit on 10/19/2008 by Keyhole]

It does not matter what party you are registered for as in the General Election, all that is left, you can vote however you please..

Maybe they should get this group to help register voters..

ACORN

I don't care who gets registered, as long as they are actually living, not Cartoon Characters, and at least Citizens..

Semper

Originally posted by gimme_some_truth
Iijima, Ai Just because you are a registered republican does not mean you are required to vote republican. You can still vote for who ever you like no matter what political party they are in.

My previous landlord, a registered (D), once threatened to call the cops on me, a registered (R), because a few years ago I voted for a (D) Senator. My landlord told me because I was a registered (R) I could only legally vote for (R)'s.

He's a college grad who works for an ivy league university.

People are profoundly stupid. Not only do these profoundly stupid people vote but they coach those who are even more idiotic on their voting behavior.

It would appear that political parties have been doing this kind of thing for some time. This particular tactic is referred to a caging, I believe.
I posted a thread about McCain's campaign sending out the anomalous absentee ballots awhile back. Looks like someone got one and posted about it a couple weeks ago.
McCain sending citizens misleading absentee ballots?

I agree that if you intend to vote that it should be an entirely deliberate act on your own. No need to have anyone show you the way in.

Damn! We need to know the full extent of Senator McCain's relationship with YPM, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.

I'm having some difficulty understanding a few points...

Here in Canada, our vote counts exactly as what we checked on the ballot... it doesn't matter one bit what you said to anyone else, or what you signed with anyone... only your check mark matters on the ballot.

Registering here, simply means making sure you're about to cast your vote in the right local zone... and not accidentally (or intentionally) voting for another area, or under a fake name.
It has nothing to do with which party you prefer.



Down there in the states, it sounds like Registering to you means something completely different.

To me it sounds like allot of people are implying that in the US, you can be registered with a party, so that your vote is automatically counted toward them, regardless of what you check off at the ballot box.
Am I hearing this correctly?
I hope I'm just getting a mixed message here, and your country isn't actually completely ignoring the whole point of democracy.


(Here in Canada, I could go infront of the entire country, and solemnly swear to vote for PC, even sign hundreds of contracts to that effect... and there's still nothing they can do if I put my check mark on NDP instead. All agreements outside of your check mark on the ballot are null, void, and moot.)

reply to post by johnsky


Yeah, your getting a mixed message!

You can vote for whoever you want, no matter what party you might have joined.

There are some people though, like the example in a post above, where people think that just because you are a member of a party that you have to vote for their candidate, and that's simply not true!

I am also confused about this, what does it mean to be registered as A or B?

Can someone explain it to those less knowledgeable about the intricacies of US voting? Thanks.

For those of you who dont quite understand how it works. If you register as a democrat or a republican you do not have to vote for just the one party from then on. You are allowed to vote for who ever you want no matter what. That is a constitutional right.

People who do register as one or the other typically do so simply because they agree more with the political stance of say the republican party than they do the democratic party.

Of course alot of people who register willingly for one party DO vote for that party most of the time anyway because they happen to agree with that parties stance on the issues.

But the bottom line is you can vote for who ever you want no matter the political party you are in. You dont even have to register under one.

I could get more detailed as there are many political parties other than just republican and democrat but I dont want things to become more complicated than they have to be for this explanation

So im summary, You dont have to register with any one political party to vote. If you do you are not required to vote with that party everytime. You can vote for who ever you want no matter if you are a republican or a democrat.

I hope this helps. If not dont hesitate to ask questions and I will try to answer the best I can. I will try to find the answers to any questions that I dont know the answer to as well if I can.

Dust



[edit on 19-10-2008 by gimme_some_truth]

reply to post by gimme_some_truth


in most states, if you want to vote in the "primaries" you have to register..
a lot of people registered republican this year so they could vote for R Paul in the primaries.. as to the general election.. the registration is meaningless..

yea im sure you are right. Not in Texas though. Not to mention that really has nothing to do with what I was saying. ( no offense)

Even if you have to pick a party and join just to participate in the primaries you are still allowed to vote for who ever you want. Being a member of any one party does not take away your right to vote for who you feel is the best person to run the country.

That stand for both the primaries and the general election.


Dust


[edit on 19-10-2008 by gimme_some_truth]

Originally posted by gimme_some_truth
You dont even have to register under one.

Which is exactly what I did. I was glad to see that option available.
What do they say about people who sit on the fence for too long?
Anyways, this still begs the question what the point is of registering as a particular political alignment.

[edit on 20-10-2008 by 4N6310]

Originally posted by 4N6310
Anyways, this still begs the question what the point is of registering as a particular political alignment.

That is what confuses me.

Here in Portugal we can make part of any party, but when we do is like we are part of any other kind of organisation, we get a member card and all the rights and duties linked to it.

Is this the same as "registering as X" in the US? Or that registration is different from being a member of the party?

Sorry if this is off-topic.

I understand the need to register to vote - we have to do the same in Britain - but what actually is the point of registering as a voter for any particular party? What's the point if you register as a (insert any particular party) but can still vote differently? Who gains in this? What's the point?

Is this potentially unreliable registration data used for predictions or estimates or something regarding expected outcomes?

It just seems a little superfluous to me and a weird unnecessary system.

[edit on 20-10-2008 by Merriman Weir]

Originally posted by 4N6310

Anyways, this still begs the question what the point is of registering as a particular political alignment.

[edit on 20-10-2008 by 4N6310]

The point to me is nothing more than wanting to show your support of a particular party. If you agree with the republicans take on the issues you may choose to support them by becoming a member of that party.

If you agree with the democrats take on the issues you may choose to support them by becoming a member of the democratic party.


Its really nothing more than stating to the world that you generally feel this certain way about the issues.

That is the only real point that I have seen. Showing to the world that you feel this way or that way about the issues.

"im a registered republican" tells me that you feel one way about this or that.

"Im a registered democrat" tells me that you feel a different way. (usually the opposite of republicans)


So in other words there is no REAL point to it. Other than declaring that you feel this way politically.

There is no republican spa retreat that only republicans can get into. same with democrats. ( although it would be a nice incentive)

There is no requirment to vote republican jusst because you have declared that you generally agree with the republican politics. Same the deomcratic party.

Dust

[edit on 20-10-2008 by gimme_some_truth]

reply to post by gimme_some_truth

Does it mean the same as being a party member, someone who can go to party reunions and vote on party decisions and such like?

Or is it something that does not make you part of the decision making and/or approving members of the party?

Sorry to keep this thread off-topic, but I am trying to fight my ignorance about this subject.