There’s some strange stuff going on in the Democratic presidential primary in North Carolina that may make some voters forget about the N.C. Republican Party’s “Extreme” ad linking nominee Barack Obama and Democratic governor candidates Bev Perdue and Richard Moore to radical preacher Jeremiah Wright's recent ravings.
For several days, voting advocates have warned that robocalls by someone identifying himself as “Lamont Williams” have targeted mostly African American households with some misleading and incorrect information about what they have to do to be eligible to vote. Listen to the robocall here.
Turns out that campaign has been linked to a group in Washington called Womens' Voices, Women Vote which has links to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Click here for a link.
Chris Kromm of the Institute for Southern Studies has more information on the group and its campaign. Click here for more.
I asked Kromm to boil it down to its essence. Here’s what he e-mailed back:
“I think the 3 important items here are:
“(1) This organization Women’s Voices unleashed a deceptive and probably illegal robo-call and mailing campaign in NC that confused voters about their registration status shortly before the May primaries; many of those targeted were apparently African American voters.
“(2) Many of the organization’s principals apparently have close ties to Sen. Clinton; the group itself seeks to mobilize a constituency that has leaned in Clinton’s favor.
“(3) When confronted about the illegal calls, the disruptive timing, etc., the organization’s response boils down to “oops, we made a mistake” – this coming from an operation that includes some of the most seasoned and sophisticated political operatives in Washington.
We agree with Bob Hall [Democracy North Carolina] and others -- it just doesn’t add up.”
Late Wednesday afternoon the N.C. Department of Justice sent out the following:
“Raleigh: Telemarketing calls that led North Carolina residents to question whether they could vote have stopped, but voters should question mailings scheduled to arrive soon, Attorney General Roy Cooper said Wednesday.
“On Wednesday, Cooper and his consumer protection team demanded that the organization Women’s Voices Women Vote stop breaking state law with prerecorded calls to North Carolina residents. The organization said Wednesday the calls would stop.
“The robo-calls told residents that they would be receiving a voter registration form in the mail that they needed to sign. But the deadline to register by mail has passed, and some call recipients already were registered, causing confusion.
“’Regardless of the motivation, the robo-calls violated the law and they needed to stop,” Cooper said.
The calls violated state law by failing to disclose who sponsored the call and failing to offer the organization’s contact information to get the calls to stop.'”
