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Women's Group Pays $100,000 Fine For N.C. Robocalls

By Ryan Singel, Kevin Poulsen, Sarah Lai Stirland, Kim Zetter, and David Kravets

A Washington, DC voter registration and turnout group on Tuesday agreed to pay a fine of $100,000 for the anonymous robocalls that it placed to North Carolina voters prior to the Democratic primary, which took place May 6.

North Carolina's Attorney General Roy Cooper has also banned the group, Women's Voices Women Vote, from engaging in any further voter registration, education or get-out-the-vote activities prior to the election.

The AG started investigating the group after receiving complaints from North Carolina voters living in predominantly black districts, and from the NAACP, and local election reform advocacy group Democracy North Carolina.

The group had come under fire because of its anonymous phone calls and voter registration mailings, some of which reached voters already registered.

The calls played a 20-second message voiced by a man who called himself "Lamont Williams."

"In the next few days, you will receive a voter-registration packet in the mail," the Williams recording said. "All you need to do is sign it, date it and return your application. Then you will be able to vote and make your voice heard. Please return the voter-registration form when it arrives. Thank you."

North Carolina law requires the originators of such calls to identify themselves and to provide their contact information to the voters. Women's Voices Women Vote had done neither.

A statement issued by the group Tuesday said that its failure to identify itself was "an inadvertent error," and it defended its voter registration efforts.

"It was not our intention that the robocalls or our mailings cause any confusion as to whether any individual was already registered to vote, said the group's President Page Gardner in a statement. "To the contrary, our effort was squarely aimed at encouraging registration of underrepresented voters in North Carolina for the upcoming general election. We took every step available to us to make our intent clear in this regard."

Shaun Dakin, Founder and CEO of the National Political Do Not Call Registry, said that the state AG's enforcement of the civil penalty is unusual.

"That's the first time I've heard of it, and it's really unique," he said.

Full post as published by Threat Level on October 21, 2008 (boomark / email).