Ohio Issue 2: Election Day Robocall Instructs Voters To Go To Polls Tomorrow

It looks like some election day shenanigans are going on in Ohio.

WASHINGTON -- Union officials in Ohio are questioning whether proponents of an anti-labor ballot initiative are trying to trick opponents of the measure into staying away from the polls on Tuesday, pointing to a robocall message voters received on the morning of Election Day. Ohio residents are voting Tuesday on Issue 2, a ballot referendum on a controversial measure known as SB 5. The law restricts collective bargaining rights for state employees, among other provisions. Opposition to the legislation inspired large protests around the state earlier in the year. At 9:37 a.m. on Tuesday, a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) staffer in Ohio received a robocall message inaccurately telling voters the election was "tomorrow."

Whether you agree with this issue or not, dirty tricks are dirty tricks.

But one union official suspected shenanigans, saying it was unlikely the American Future Fund would make the mistake of instructing its own supporters to turn out on the wrong day, if it was truly interested in increasing turnout. "When you set an auto-dial to dial, you know how long it will take to go through those batch of numbers," said a union official. "And if they were legitimately trying to turn out their people they would make sure they didn't get the calls today." Anthony Caldwell, a spokesman for SEIU District 1199, said it was the union's information technology officer who received the call and noticed, curiously, that the time stamp was slightly after 9:30 am this morning. The IT official is a registered Democrat, which made the call more suspicious

Here's what the conservative group making the robo calls has to say:

1:25 p.m. -- Mandy Fraher, a spokeswoman for American Future Fund, acknowledged that automated phone calls were being made on Tuesday telling recipients that the election was being held "tomorrow." She insisted that the mix-up was due to "gross incompetence on behalf of the phone vendor" and that the group was "working to correct that problem immediately."

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com...

Innocent mistake? Could be I guess. But make no mistake this little state ballot initiative will have national reverberations one way or the other.
As I'm sitting here making this thread I just found out the anti union law has been defeated. So if there were dirty tricks going on, they didn't work.


Source:www.huffingtonpost.com...

Wow thats awesome it failed!! I put in my no vote for it today. They tried every trick in the book to get this one through. Good ridence SB5!

Fortunately it failed ( I live in Ohio ) ..

reply to post by imawlinn


Thank you for voting no on that turkey! If it would have passed it would have hurt a lot more than just Ohio, trust me a lot of people had their eyes on this one. Now we'll see what happens next in Wisconsin.

reply to post by jlv70


You're absolutely welcome! This was an all out attack on the middle class. The funniest thing is politicians were protected from the bill by a loophole. I'm extatic right now!

This crap should be illegal and pisses me off to no end everytime i hear about it. This crap should be prosecuted it's denying peoples right to vote, bunch of scumbags.

Tyical political chicanery.
Didn't work this time though....nice try.

reply to post by jlv70


You can put a fork in this one - it's done.

Talk about a bad idea?

Good riddance.

reply to post by imawlinn


It will go again next year, don't worry. Something like 85% polled said they supported making Public Union members contribute to their own pension and 15% of their health care (GASP!?!?!?) but did not support restricting negotiation or striking rules.

So next year a new initiative will be launched forcing Union members to contribute to their own entitlements.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by imawlinn

 

It will go again next year, don't worry. Something like 85% polled said they supported making Public Union members contribute to their own pension and 15% of their health care (GASP!?!?!?) but did not support restricting negotiation or striking rules.

So next year a new initiative will be launched forcing Union members to contribute to their own entitlements.

Well guess what RockPuck. I am an employee of the State of Ohio and have been for 15 years. I HAVE been paying for my benefits 10% pension and 15% health care for the last 15 years. So here's the deal. People wonder why I get irate over this left-right thing. This is the best example of why. You believed the bs that the right wing told you and supported what you thought was right but guess what? It's a GD lie. State employees already pay for those things and have paid more and more over the last 10 years trying to help balance the budget. My agency has been cut from 232 people to 78 state wide and we are not bloated and never were. I am the only IT person in my agency for the entire state. 6 regional offices. What I am really sick of is the media owned by right wing millionaires like Murdoch spewing lies 8 hours a day on dozens of radio stations.

John Kasuck (Gov) gives money to corporate buddies and wants to take it from the people but this time he went too far. He is history in this State. You want him in Portland because the people of Ohio will let you have him? At least 67% of them.

reply to post by damwel


Completly agree with you. I work for an ohio city, and I pay over 300/ month to my pension and 175/ month to medical. This bill was never about money, pension or benefits. It was about laying the ground work for abolishing all unions, private and public. Ohio voters showed that the are strong at the polls. You can bet kasich won't get another term. Hes burnt his bridges

Big Labor spent $30 million dollars, half of which came from D.C. PACS and Unions, to hoodwink the voters in Ohio. They spent just as much in Wisconsin and lost and they were certainly not going to lose again. The voters never got the full truth and Firefighters were used to incite fear in the voters.

My main beef with this issue is with the teachers and their self righteousness and the bloated union that supports them in Ohio. Mind you, the average worker in the OEA (union) makes $40,000 more a year than the average teacher. The OEA collected an additional $54 per teacher to come up with the $5million they spent to overturn this legislation.

IMO they should have separated the public safety sector out of this legislation from the beginning. The kids are now going to pay the price and teachers will continue to lose their jobs. We cannot afford to bankroll them any longer. Time to cough up for your benefits like the rest of us paying your salaries. My insurance cost has gone up $3,000 a year, my coverage was decreased, my deductible and out of pocket have increased since the inception of Obamacare. I DO NOT fee sorry for the teachers and their BLOATED UNION. I fee sorry for the students and I am pissed off about how my tax dollars are being wasted on this bunch selfish so called educators of my children.



Great article
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