Pam Spaulding on the NC voting rights case: "Sunlight is the best disinfectant"
Yesterday, Pam Spaulding -- who runs the popular blog Pam's House Blend, and also blogs for sites like FireDogLake and BlueNC -- posted the following comments on Facing South's investigation into voting rights in North Carolina and Women's Voices Women Vote. Full disclosure: Pam is a board member of the Institute, although we concluded this wasn't improper given that WVWV board members have been given a forum on blogs like Huffington Post and OpenLeft. The piece can be found here.There has been a strong progressive defense of the actions of WVWV. What seems to be difficult to swallow is that an organization has, like it or not, engaged in the illegal robo-calls in multiple states that affect a specific slice of potential voters. And as Facing South pointed out, in North Carolina, it occurred yet again. An unknown number of low-information minority voters are left confused, and possibly deterred, from voting, whether or not it was ineptitude by the organization.
We should hold our organizations to an extremely high standard. Blacks (and whites) died to ensure that blacks had right to vote in the South; the call for further public investigation is both necessary and relevant to 1) get to the bottom of the illegal calls and 2) reassure voters that this cannot happen again. I don't care who is on the board or running the org, or how much good work was/is being done by WVWV in other arenas, if this were a Republican-run organization, we'd be tearing it to shreds.
If silence on this for "the good of the party" is more important than investigating a illegal practice affecting an individual's right to vote (on purpose or repeatedly by mistake), it's a sad state of affairs. Just because the Republicans do it more, or have a more systematic interest in doing it doesn't change the fact that this was wrong on so many levels -- and airing dirty laundry is the least of the issues in my mind. Apologies are meaningful, but given the spotty history of WVWV robo-calls, there is a stench still in the air, and that's why the investigation is moving forward.
There seems to be an undercurrent out there that registering more voters, particularly single, low-information women of all colors using illegal methods multiple times (why didn't WVWV care enough about its rep to clean up its "administrative problems" after so many official red flags?) is worth the potential result of confusing an unknown number other, low-information voters in a way that could deter them from voting.
WVWV could have as an emergency corrective measure, embarked on a second set of robo-calls to inform those voters that they received incorrect or confusing information; that seems like a logical thing to do. The action taken, to try to stop the mailing of the registration packets, does little to directly inform call recipients waiting for those packets to arrive to fill them out and send back before voting.
Chris Kromm and the Institute for Southern Studies dove into investigating this robo-call not knowing what they would find. ISS continued to dig regardless of the organization and made those results public. When wagon-circling occurs because of bruised egos on our side takes precedence over focusing on those targeted by the robo-calls, many belonging to a demographic historically disenfranchised time and again, it's problematic. If we're going to say every vote must count, then we have to mean it.
What I fear most is that this WVWV debacle will unravel into a feminist vs. black issue (the underlying assumption that it is also a Clinton-supporter vs. Obama-supporter issue). The left has such discomfort dealing with color-arousal or race matters (not racism, mind you, since that word is nuclear), that it will largely go undiscussed because of fear of getting shocked by the third rail. Sometimes naming the unmentionable tension can clear the air, but it requires cool heads. We're in a world of intertubes hotheads on all sides of the equation, with raw nerves exposed.
The bottom line is to take responsibility, clean house, move forward. Sunlight is the best disinfectant -- on the left and the right.
(Emphasis in original)
Labels: facing south, north carolina, robo-calls, voting rights, women's voices women vote
3 Comments:
You can add Louisiana to the list of states complaining about WVWV.
Also, it appears that WVWV is targeting registered voters, not unregistered voters - for their mailings!
Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne issued a news release recently saying most of the people contacted by the Woman's Voices group and another voter registration group, the Voting Integrity Project, already are registered to vote.
The release didn't name the groups, but Dardenne's office later disclosed their identities. The release said the groups are using flawed data and have sent applications to "deceased persons, convicted felons and at least one dog."
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/NEWS01/805070306/1002/NEWS01
When will NC's Attorney General file criminal charges?
What civil penalties will WVWV rack up?
As an advocate who works on protecting the vote, I am appalled at WVWV's actions. As for WVWV's words, the only thing I want to hear is that the organization is getting out of the business of mass mailngs to voters, and helping its BoD members' businesses make money.
I agree with lots of what Pam is saying here. Progressive organizations should be subject to scrutiny. Illegal actions should be punished. No organization is above the law and no organization is immune from accountability.
I also have a high regard for the long history of investigative journalism practiced by ISS. I remember reading Southern Exposure as a teenager growing up in Durham.
What I'm having a harder time swallowing is the fact that once the investigation figured out what WVWV was all about and what the good history of WVWV has been, that they didn't start looking at some of the context and methodology of the organization.
Note, I'm not saying that this would have made WVWV any less culpable in their transgressions. But what I am saying is that, as someone who works closely with organizations fighting against real voter suppression campaigns, continuing to press WVWV without giving the progressive community the wider context of things like:
-what the challenges are that face organizations attempting register 1 million people in a short period of time;
-why certain methodologies were chosen by WVWV (and other VR drives) (for example, why robo-calls, why the timing, why that script, why the mailing, etc.);
-what the research shows on efficacy and cost of VR drives;
and other points that would enable us to have a much more productive discussion about what was really going on, what the real transgressions were, and what real amends need to be made to atone for mistakes and (possible) illegal actions, leaves us in a very adversarial position with groups like WVWV that are trying to expand the electorate and gives the bad guys ammunition for the future.
Giving us greater context would have been real investigative journalism. As it stands we have a lot of "gotcha" journalism that frames WVWV in terms of Clinton v. Obama, rather than "unbelievablely huge numbers of mistakes in VR drives versus is this really voter suppression".
We are doing ourselves a disservice by not giving ourselves the tools to effectively evaluate what makes for a successful large-scale voter registration drive.
When the voter suppression attacks come later this summer and fall, you can bet that they will be using the press coverage generated by the WVWV investigation. In order to combat this, progressives need to be able to distinguish between something that was riddled with mistakes but was aimed at boosting participation from disenfranchissed groups and something that really is voter suppression.
If we can't do that, then we will end up aiding efforts that are inimical to our public policy goals and values.
So, investigate and hold accountable, yes. But do it in a way that helps us do better and doesn't help the bad guys at the same time.
I'm worried that without the broader context all we're really doing is giving the bad guys ammunition for later and not really helping WVWV get it right.
My two cents.
We need the AG to file charges ASAP.
WVWV has launched their Operation Chaos in Kentucky, one of the next/upcoming primary states. And after the deadline to register to vote.
Grayson Issues Warning About Voter Registration
Last Update: 5/06 3:10 pm
Web produced by: Jessica Noll
Secretary of State Trey Grayson issued a warning to Kentucky citizens that his office has learned that a voting group has sent thousands of potentially confusing mailings to women across Kentucky asking them to register to vote.
These mailings could cause confusion for Kentuckians because the deadline to register to vote in the upcoming May primary has already passed.
According to the group, "Women’s Voices. Women Vote." (WVWV), the voter registration mailings were part of a larger nationwide mailing.
Grayson encouraged voters to still consider registering to vote so that they will be eligible for the fall general election, but wanted to make sure that citizens understood that any new registrants registering after the April 21 deadline will not be able to vote in the May primary.
"I appreciate Women’s Voices Women Vote letting us know about this possibly confusing situation for Kentucky voters," stated Secretary Grayson. "It is important to stress that citizens can still register to vote for the November general election, but they will not be eligible to vote and in the upcoming primary."
Page Gardner, President of WVWV, stated in her letter that:
"…Kentucky 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 Kentucky is 29 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."
Grayson had previously noted at a March press conference that many third-party registration groups are in Kentucky now and are trying to register voters. He stated that there have been some complaints to the State Board of Elections about some of these voter registration efforts. While most voter registration efforts are very helpful, they sometimes can confuse voters.
At the time, Grayson stated that WVWV had been sending voter registration cards and letters to citizens stating that they are not registered to vote, when in fact, many of those citizens are registered. To reduce confusion, voters can take the time to check their voter registration at the Voter Information Center.
Gardner noted in her letter that they use "the best available data … from a large commercial data company" and that "…[their] attempts to identify only unregistered women will not be perfect."
The State Board of Elections has also heard from voters and from county clerks that WVWV have been sending automated calls encouraging people to register to vote which does not explicitly state that the voter registration deadline has passed for the May primary election.
"By all accounts, these voter registration efforts have the best of intentions, but sometimes the execution is not as accurate as we would prefer. If citizens have any questions, I encourage them visit our website or to call the State Board of Elections or their local county clerk," said Grayson.
Kentucky Post
http://www.kypost.com/content/news/commonwealth/story.aspx?content_id=4ed660a8-1927-41e6-8330-6387bcd9809a
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