A different perspective on Women's Voices Women Vote

[Onlooker]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/03/AR2008050301870.html

...

In a statement released on its Web site, the group explains that the calls were part of a general-election outreach effort in 24 states and coincided with mailings that conveyed a similar "hurry up and register" message. But in other states as well, the mailings and calls were placed after primary registration deadlines had passed, sowing confusion and leading to other legal complaints against the group.

"The calls were scheduled to coincide with the arrival of the voter registration applications," the group said in a statement. "We regret any confusion that has arised as a consequence of this timing." Podesta weighed in as well, calling the North Carolina situation "a mistake of judgment and execution, and not an attempt to disenfranchise voters."

Although the calls have stopped, the group is chasing down postal trucks to withdraw the mailers from circulation. Inside the organization, there is plenty of finger-pointing about who's to blame -- but by the end of the week, even some of the bloggers who had raised the specter of a Clinton conspiracy seemed to accept that shoddy management, despite all that talent, was the more likely culprit.

[Triana]

1. Yea. They keep apologizing and claiming it was a 'mistake' and they're oh-so-sorry..

....yet there are myriad Clinton-affiliated people involved in the group, too. And oddly, they never seem to FIX things in order to prevent all this confusion they claim they didn't mean to cause. If it's a management issue, then what are they going to do about it - besides continually apologize in their typical "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission" fashion.

It all stinks to High Heaven still, if ya ask me!

[DJ13]

2. Any bets that when Clinton drops out that group ceases to operate?

[babylonsister]

3. Any excuses for WV?

Another 'unfortunate coincidence' in WV (WVWV)???



Secretary of State says mass mailing has caused confusion


The Secretary of State's office is reminding first-time voters that the deadline to register to vote in Tuesday's primary already has passed.

Betty Ireland said she's worried that a mass mailing aimed at getting young women in West Virginia to register to vote might cause confusion.

A group called "Women's Voices. Women Vote" sent out more than 16,000 mailers to unmarried women in the state after April 22, the last day to register in time to vote Tuesday.

People who've never voted can still register, but they won't be eligible to cast a ballot in the primary.

Page Gardner, president of the women's organization, said in a letter that:

"West Virginia residents will receive this mail after the deadline for registering to vote to participate in the upcoming primary election. Please be aware that the mailing is not intended to encourage registration specifically for the primary, but simply to encourage voter registration in general.

The mailing clearly indicates that the deadline to register to vote by mail for a particular election in West Virginia is 20 days before the election ... We hope that this unfortunate coincidence in timing does not lead to any confusion or aggravation for either your state's voters or registrars."

Ireland's office said it received a batch of voter registration forms as a result of the group's mass mailing, and many of them were from people already registered.

Ireland said she wants to assure already registered voters that they do not need to register again to vote in Tuesday's primary. However, those voters who used the women's group's registration form to update their address should contact their county clerk's office to determine their proper voting precinct.

"I do not want registered voters to be confused by this mailing," Ireland said. "If you were already registered to vote, you do not need to re-register."

more...

http://www.dailymail.com/News/election08/200805090050

[MagickMuffin]

4. They should have KNOWN better

They could have WAITED until AFTER the primaries to reach out for the GE. I think they are using that argument as a cover up for their actions. There was no rush to register these people before or during their primaries, there was/is plenty of time after the primaries to register new voters. Since they got caught trying to game the system, they claim mismanagement. Yeah that's the ticket.

If they had done this in only one or two states (which is bad enough) but they intentionally did this in eleven states.

Some other complaint I have is:

Why do they instruct the new voters to mail their registration back to WVWV, instead of the SOS?.?.?

It makes NO SENSE mailing it back to WVWV.

Why did they use a fake caller?.?.?

Why didn't they identify themselves when calling, which is required by law?.?.?

Why are they just contacting the African American communities?.?.?

[Why Syzygy]

5. Their entire mission statement is to register and GOTV. If they can't DO that,

what are they doing in business? They should be fined even if it's ineptitude.