I have to interrupt our regularly scheduled fretting about the budget to follow up on a story from last year.  In September of 2008, the San Bernadino County Democratic Central Committee noticed something fishy going on in the registration of GOP voters.  The county was swimming against the Democratic tide. Why? Well, it turns out that a firm called Young Political Majors(YPM) was slamming voters, changing their registration without their consent in order to get $5 from the CA Rep. Party(CRP).

Basically, the firm got voters to sign an unrelated petition, and then asked them to sign on a line right below “for confirmation.” The “confirmation” line was, of course, actually a voter registration card. YPM would then fill out the card, switching them to GOP so they would pocket the $5. This scheme was repeated in at least Riverside County, perhaps in more locations as well. YPM had used the scheme throughout Florida before getting themselves kicked out.

Then California Democratic Party Chair Art Torres sent the registrar of voters (and various law enforcement agencies) a letter, outlining the case, and asking for a quick resolution to the case.

Progress was made swiftly, as in October, Jacoby was arrested for voter registration fraud. While Jacoby wasn’t charged for the slamming, he was charged for lying on his own registration card.

Keep in mind that all of this was occurring at the same time as the Republicans were screaming bloody murder about ACORN was “committing fraud” by turning in voter registration cards that they were suspicious of. Never mind that ACORN did what was legally required of them by turning them in and flagging them for the voter registrar.  Just because they followed the rules doesn’t mean that you can’t do a good ransacking of an ACORN office for kicks.  

Well, to loop this story back around to this week’s events, Marc Jacoby copped a guilty plea on a yesterday:

Jacoby, owner of Young Political Majors, registered to vote at Los Angeles addresses that were not his own. State law requires petition circulators to be qualified voters. Jacoby will also be required to show proof he is registered at his correct address.

The charge will get him a bit of probation time, but the bigger charge of slamming is yet to be prosecuted.  It’s not clear what the holdup on that case, and whether there will be such a prosecution.  However, the evidence is rather stark, as an LA Times random sample found that of 46 people they contacted, 37 were misled into the voter registration change.

Presumably, any charge related to the San Bernadino slamming would fall to SB County District Attorney Michael Ramos. If we hear anything else, we will be sure to follow up on the story.

Over the weekend, we learned about YPM, the voter registration company hired by the state Republican Party which was illegally switching voters’ party affiliations under false pretenses, and (this is the buried lede) changing their ballot status in a clear act of voter suppression:

Those who were formerly Democrats may stop receiving phone calls and literature from that party, perhaps affecting its get-out-the-vote efforts. They also will be given only a Republican ballot in the next primary election if they do not switch their registration back before then.

Some also report having their registration status changed to absentee without their permission; if they show up at the polls without a ballot they may be unable to vote.

Robert Cruickshank mentioned that the head of YPM has been arrested in this case and charged with voter registration fraud.  In response, the Yacht Party has decided to attack Debra Bowen:

On the eve of California’s voter registration deadline, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has decided to once again show her partisan colors and charge an individual for questions surrounding his own, personal voter registration stemming from 2006 and 2007.  

The fact that these charges are being leveled against an individual operating in a highly-contested area of California, and the significant gap between recent allegations and the charges we’ve seen today suggests that this is politically motivated.

It’s clear that Bowen, herself the recipient of an ACORN endorsement (still displayed on her campaign website), has elevated these issues to achieve maximum political benefit and deflect attention from the Democratic Presidential nominee’s high-profiled problems and associations with the radical community activist group ACORN.

While we condemn voter fraud in all forms, it is evident that Debra Bowen is using her office to play politics with the public’s perception of political parties.  This is inappropriate at least, and an abuse of her office and a willing suspension of her duties at worst.

Now, let’s make clear that in the original article, YPM founder Marc Jacoby cited Bowen’s work – falsely – to prove his own innocence:

He also said that plainclothes investigators for Secretary of State Debra Bowen, a Democrat, have conducted multiple spot checks and told his firm it is doing nothing improper.

“Every time, they gave us a thumbs-up,” Jacoby said. “People are not being tricked.”

But Nicole Winger, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, said the agency “does not give an OK or seal of approval to voter registration groups.”

That’s an out-and-out lie, and it’s completely within the purview of the Secretary of State to enforce the laws regarding voter registration.  The Yacht Party is being completely disingenuous about Jacoby’s illegality here (“personal voter registration” my ass), and they dredge up ACORN, which is not only unrelated to the YPM case, but a situation where paid registration gatherers were defrauding ACORN more than anything else.  But it’s not surprising to see the Yacht Party fan the fires of hate and use the ACORN scapegoat to answer for their own illegal activities.

And this is Yacht Party illegality.  Steve Poizner paid for the YPM voter drive and put a bounty on new registrations.

This story is starting to hit traditional media.  Debra Bowen did nothing but her job, and she needs to be supported.  Whether you write a letter to the editor, call the Yacht Party offices (hey, here’s contact information, imagine that) or just spread the word to your friends and neighbors, do something to call out Republican voter suppression today.