Disclosure: I work for Courage Campaign
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has opened an investigation into the Dirty Trick to steal the White House -- and now Courage Campaign needs your help to make sure the GOP-backed group behind the move to change California's Electoral College votes is exposed as using illegal tactics to get signatures.
You may remember that Bowen opened the investigation earlier this week after the Daily Kos community took action, catching people on video obscuring petition language and misrepresenting the intent of a petition.
After the great success that this community won in convincing Bowen to open the investigation, we need to come together one more time and help close the noose around the GOP-backed groups trying to get their Dirty Trick on the ballot. If you’re in California, Debra Bowen needs your help right away. Send your photos, video, or any other documentation of dirty tricks to the SoS office now. Full details after the flip.
As you know, the latest Republican scheme to steal the White House involves a dirty trick in California that would give the GOP presidential nominee about 20 electoral votes from California even if the Democratic nominee wins the statewide vote.
The Secretary of State’s Fraud Investigations Unit is currently investigating the GOP-backed "California Counts" campaign, which is behind the effort to get enough signatures on the Dirty Tricks initiative to qualify it for the November 2008 ballot. (They already failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the June ballot, showing just how desperate they are for each and every signature.)
"California Counts" hired Arno Political Consulting – a notorious shady signature-gathering machine – to get the signatures done. Based on comments posted on the diaries from outraged Kossacks across California, APC apparently has instructed their "subcontractors" (read: employees) all over California to use the same tactics I saw when I made this Courage Campaign YouTube Video:
Have you seen similar tactics used by petition-gatherers? If so, send your photos and video to info@couragecampaign.org or call the Secretary of State at (916) 657-2166 right away. Here's how to properly document the illegal activity:
1. If you see petitioners in your area using rubber bands to obscure petition language, take a photo of the actual, obscured petition papers.
2. Write down the time and date, the address, and a description of the location (e.g. at the west entrance to a grocery store, etc.) where you encountered the apparently illegal activity.
3. Email info@couragecampaign.org or call the Fraud Investigations Unit at the SoS: (916) 657-2166 right away. Include your contact information in any correspondence so that the Fraud Investigations Unit can follow up with you if necessary.
In order to establish a pattern of illegal misrepresentation and other violations of California election law, we need to show the SoS that dirty tactics have been used across the state – not just at UCSB. If we can establish a pattern of activity, that should implicate APC and "California Counts," and the GOP will be unable to claim that "individual subcontractors" are the only people at fault for breaking California Election Law. "California Counts" and APC have some big GOP names associated with them -- including the Rudy Giuliani campaign. If this community can help tie them to illegal activity, there's no telling how big this story could get.
If you have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact the Courage Campaign directly: info@couragecampaign.org
Let's catch these dirty tricksters and make sure that there is NO chance for them to steal the White House. Again.