Tenn. Democrat: why did GOP sent him Florida absentee ballot request?

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Tuesday, September 23. 2008

Tenn. Democrat: why did GOP sent him Florida absentee ballot request?

Another puzzling McCain mailer. This time it seems really strange. The Florida Republican Party mailed an absentee ballot request (for a Sarasota Florida ballot) to a Democrat in Murfreesboro Tennessee. The form has one name, Mr. William R. “X” with the person having two addresses, one in Tennessee, and one in Sarasota Florida. In actuality, these are two different men with the same first and last name. They both use the same middle initial, but upon further research, they have different middle names. The Mr. X in Tennessee is William Randy X . The Mr. X in Florida is William Rob X. Ms. "X" in Tennessee wondered if this was a scheme to somehow void voter registrations for some people. (Last name and street addresses redacted for privacy. ).

See Ms. X's email and our findings after the jump:

Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 10:03 AM
Subject: Fw: Unsoliticted absentee ballot mailer sent to TN resident by Rep Party of FL

----- Original Message -----

From:

Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 8:40 PM

Subject: Unsoliticted absentee ballot mailer sent to TN resident by Rep Party of FL

Dear Officers of Sarasota Democratic Party,

My husband (W.R. “X” )received a mailing from the Republican Party of Florida this week. At first we were thinking wow, they must have a lot of extra money to be trying to influence our vote in TN. Then I see it provides information and a form to request an absentee ballot. This makes no sense. We have no connection to FL. Then I see on the front that the return address has William R “X”, ____________, Venice, FL _____.

Why in the world would my husband, William R “X” , receive an unsolicited request? Why is anyone searching national database to find a name that matches? Or are they targeting typically Republican areas (TN) in hopes of finding someone willing to request a ballot?

Then I searched on the internet and saw that it may be part of a plan to try to void registrations for people. I'm contacting you because it is mailed back to the County Supervisor of Elections in Sarasota, Fl.

Who else do I need to notify about this? I've attached a scan copy of the mailing.

Mrs. “X”

-------------------------------

Murfreesboro, TN

The mailer indicates that it was sent by the Republican Party of Florida, PO Box 311, Tallahassee, Fl 32302 and also says on it “Paid for by Republican Party of Florida…. www.rpof.org ” and has non profit postage. It does not have instructions saying do not forward or anything else. (So would not be useful for voter caging).

We looked up the residence in Venice Florida, and it is owned by realtors Mr. William and Mrs. “X”, while the folks in Murfreesboro, Tennessee are Mr. William and Mrs. “X”

We first looked up the Sarasota address to see if it was legit, and found that there was indeed a Mr. and Mrs. “X” listed as owner since 2005.

Next, I checked voter registration records. I used the website www.voteforchange.com to look up voter registrations for the two possible Mr. Xs. Based on the Sarasota, Fl address in the McCain mailer, I did find a registration record for a Mr. X in Sarasota Fl. Then I looked up the Mr. X in Murfreesboro Tenn. who received the McCain mailer, to see if he was registered at the Murfreesboro Tenn. address, but the search came up “We did not find you. This could be because you registered recently or you recently moved.”

The Voter Registration Card is to be mailed to:

County Supervisor of Elections

P.O. Box 4194

Sarasota Fl 34230

Tallahassee Fl 32302

We checked, this is the valid address for that Elections office.

Possible outcome: If Mr. “X” in Tennessee had so chosen, he possibly could have voted in both Tenn and Florida. This might have caused problems for both Mr. “X”s if the Sarasota Mr. “X” voted in the election as well.

Why was this GOP mailer sent to a Democrat in Tennessee? Is this malfeasance or misfeasance? In talking with some people who work on political campaigns, the most plausible reason for this mailing is that the Florida GOP used a data mining company to get these addresses, and the datamining company’s information was not very good.

Followup: I called Mrs “X” in Tennessee this morning to tell her about the above research, and to ask her to check her husband’s voter registration as soon as possible.

Pending: Waiting for reply from the Brennan Center for Justice.

Advice to readers: Be skeptical about mailers that could affect your vote. Check to make sure that you are registered to vote and know where you are to vote. Do this before your state’s voter registration cutoff date. You can check your voter registration at www.voteforchange.com or contact your elections office found at www.canivote.org

September 20, 2008 New: Fake Voter Registration Letter in Florida Misleads Voters

September 18. 2008 Florida elections: 5-Year-Old Gets Voter Registration Application In Mail

September 17. 2008 Update on Confusing Florida McCain Mailers Still developing! The St Petersburg Times reports that the McCain campaign has sent mailers targeting elderly democrats, and the mailers create confusion about the voter's registration status.."We have you registered as a Republican..."

September 15. 2008 McCain's Absentee Ballot Mailer Fiasco Spreads - Could Disqualify Some Voters,

September 14. 2008 McCain Confusing NC Republican Voters

September 12. 2008 Unsolicited Absentee Ballot Requests Surface in Virginia, Ohio, and Florida,

September 9. 2008 Florida Voter Caging Warning: McCain mailer w/absentee ballot requests

Posted by Joyce McCloy in Election Day Fiascos at 10:46