Washblog

From daktech {at} hughes.net

Desperate Republicans across the country are using robo-calls
(automated dialing systems that play recorded messages) to harass voters.  Your phone rings, there's a brief recorded intro that makes it appear the call is from a Democratic campaign or related group, and then a pause, and then a recorded message.  If you hang up it calls you back six or seven times or more.  

The goal is to make people think they are being harassed by the Democrats, and piss them off enough to change their votes.  It works well enough to potentially flip some close races.

This is clearly illegal under some statutes & regulations, arguably illegal under others.  It appears to be going on across the US, using the same format and methods.  If we pursue this nationally, we could bankrupt the GOP.

I'm a PBX engineer (design & program commercial telephone systems), with over 20 years in the industry.  Here's what you need to know, and how we can fight back.

More...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/5/212753/967

====

Hard data on voter-suppression robo-calls

UPDATE 4.00am EST - it's definitely a coordinated campaign. See full update inside

I'm compiling information about the robo-calls, starting with a list of congressional districts that have received robo-calls to suppress the vote. We can use this list to prove that the NRCC is systematically suppressing the vote nation-wide in a coordinated campaign.

We can stop these calls, and one of the ammunition we need is detailed and complete evidence that it's happening everywhere. Also, it would be nice if we could get leaked NRCC emails (etc) showing it's a co-ordinated, centralized campaign. And perhaps shut down the company that's running the calls? Who is it?
I can dream....

UPDATE 1.30am EST - it appears the calls are coming from CONQUEST
COMMUNICATIONSGROUP -- contact details inside!

Anyway, the list, forthwith, below the fold. PLEASE CONTRIBUTE IN THE COMMENTS. I will be adding to the list as long as I can stay up.

The races with confirmed fake robo-calls so far are: CA-04, CA-50,
CT-04, CT-05, FL-13, GA-12, ID-01, IL-06, IL-08, KS-02, NC-11, NH-02, NY-19, PA-06, WA-05.

[...]

UPDATE 4.00am EST: Here's what I can say now with confidence: This is a single, national, co-ordinated campaign by the NRCC and Conquest Communications Group.

It covers 15 known districts across the country. Many of the calls
begin with the phrase "Hi. I'm calling with information about [Dem candidate]", call back many times, and call at night / very early a.m. Many people receiving the calls are complaining to the (innocent) Dem candidate.

More...http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/6/02926/3087

Jim Webb campgain files complaint with DOJ

Over the past several days, voters throughout the Commonwealth of
Virginia have filed complaints of incidents aimed at suppressing voter turn out in heavily Democratic and African American neighborhoods. Today, the Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections Jean Jensen concluded that the incidents appear widespread and deliberate.

[...]

Documented incidents of suppression incidents include:

1) Calls that Voting will Lead to Arrest.

Tim Daly from Clarendon got a call saying that if he votes Tuesday, he will be arrested. A recording of his voicemail can be found online at: www.webbforsenate.com/media/phone_message.wav

2. Widespread Calls, Allegedly from "Webb Volunteers," Telling Voters that their Polling Location has Changed.

3. Fliers in Buckingham County Say "SKIP THIS ELECTION" (paid for by the RNC) have caused many in the African American community to call the Board of Elections to see if the election is still on. The full tag line says: "SKIP THIS ELECTION... (and then in smaller print): Don't Let the Tax and Spend Liberals Win."

4). Voter Machine Problems
a. On many ballots in heavily Democratic neighborhoods, Jim's name is cut off.  The ballots say: "James H. (Jim)" with no Webb.
b. New reports that ballots in Essex County have Jim's name split on 2 pages.  The "James H (Jim)" on one page, "Webb" on the next.
c. Reports of voting machines in Isle of White that do not provide a clear image of the ballot, making voting a challenge.  More...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/6/161948/452

http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/evan/43955/

With the Midterm Elections well underway the Republican machine is busy cobbling together their latest Cut-Down-The-Vote campaign. Meet "the robocall."

Your vigilance is needed right now, so take a quick moment to read about what's going on -- today, in your country, in your home -- and pass it on to everyone you know. The national TV networks are thus far ignoring the story, so it's up to you. Tomorrow is too late.

In addition to the phony mailers to Latinos, calls directing voters to nonexistent polls, and a fresh batch of onerous voter ID laws (video, right), this year's "hanging chad" is the Robocall.

Robocalling itself is simple: a computer calls your home phone and delivers a pre-recorded message about a candidate. They're annoying, sure, but it's legal and, according to one political strategist, "they represent the freedom of speech that our country was founded on."

Perhaps, but Americans aren't up in arms about an annoyance, and this isn't about the First Amendment. People are angry, and demanding action, because the Republican Party appears to be using fraudulent and misleading calls to suppress the vote in at least 50 districts across the nation....

Here's how you can fight back: To find out about robocalls in your area go HERE (http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/11/6/02926/3087) and to find out what you should do if you get a robocall, go to G2geek's DailyKos diary HERE http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/11/5/212753/967

by eridani on Mon Nov 06, 2006 at 08:03:30 PM PST