Women's Voices responds: "Sorry for the confusion" regarding NC robo-calls

[sabra]

http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/index.asp

Women's Voices Women Vote has responded in several forums to the issues we raised in yesterday's investigation about their illegal and deceptive voter outreach activities. The main response came from group founder and president Page Gardner, in a statement titled: "Confusion Surrounding Robo-Calls in North Carolina."

First, it's important to note that Gardner's statement in no ways refutes, or even addresses, any of the basic facts put forward by our investigation:

* In North Carolina, Women's Voices has been conducting a robo-call and mailing campaign that the state Attorney General has confirmed is illegal, that has been secretive and deceptive, and will likely have the effect of confusing and discouraging North Carolina voters.

* Our report documents that, in at least 10 other states -- Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin -- Women's Voices has drawn condemnation from election officials and voters. The group has been accused of misrepresenting election law, using secretive and dishonest tactics and generating widespread confusion among voters -- again, threatening to dampen voter participation.

* The role Women's Voices has played in the Virginia and North Carolina primaries has been especially disruptive. In both cases, they launched deceptive robo-calls -- some apparently targeting African-American zip codes -- just before major primaries, leading residents to think they weren't registered to vote.

* Women's Voices has a number of ties to Sen. Hillary Clinton; we provide additional examples here. We don't suggest, and have no evidence to suggest, that Women's Voices is formally connected to the Clinton campaign. However, we do believe such close ties deserve scrutiny.

[mod mom]

1. Here back in Feb (& Virginia) they said they were correcting mistakes:

Virginia voter registration effort proves legit after fears of scam
Posted to: Crime Virginia



By Steve Stone
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 9, 2008

-snip

Women's Voices Women Vote, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, made the calls and sent the mailings, Geller said.

The group said it is part of an "unprecedented" effort to register women. Trouble was, it was largely unheard of. The calls to potential voters started even before the effort was announced. The organization said it is targeting more than 228,000 unmarried women in Virginia and 22 other states.

Sarah Johnson, communications director for the organization, said Friday that not including information about the source of the voter registration effort was "absolutely an accidental omission."

She said the group was changing its nationwide phone alerts to make clear who is coordinating the effort.

-snip

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/state-police-investigate-possible-voter-registration-scam


SORRY BUT SOMETHING DOESN'T PASS THE SMELL TEST!

[crankychatter]

8. They want it dead

it ain't gonna die

we are tired of people in authority not doing their jobs

people are fighting for themselves now

I think this story will get legs...

no flash in the pan... people are angry

[mod mom]

14. We have to help give it legs and get questions answered!

If you have any media contacts ask them to research this and ask questions.

[roguevalley]

32. I hope those sow faced cows go to jail. Scum of the earth. Dirt swines.

I figure since Hillary hasn't condemned this that we can expect it in her regime if her cabal gets in. God help us all.

[Spazito]

17. I agree, it doesn't come close to passing the smell test...

If they had been truly above-board, they would have ENSURED the "mistakes" made had been corrected immediately the FIRST time they were called to their attention. Their "mistakes" caused unnecessary chaos yet they continued to use the same format, without ANY change, which tells me their intent WAS and IS to undermine the voting process.

Thanks for the link and info regarding their activities back in Feb.

[leftofcool]

2. Without evidence, it is a non-issue

This group has been doing this for 20 years.

[mod mom]

3. There is evidence TPM has audio and scanned copies of their mailers.

[leftofcool]

5. But are those connected to the Clinton Campaign?

I don't doubt it was going on. Hell, the did this in our state during the Kerry Campaign.

[mod mom]

9. Check out the Boards & Bio Page connected to WVWV:

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
FACING SOUTH EXCLUSIVE: D.C. nonprofit aimed at women voters behind deceptive N.C. robo-calls
By Chris Kromm

-snip

Some have also questioned the ties between Women's Voices operatives and Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton. Gardner, for example, contributed $2,500 to Clinton's HILLPAC on May 4, 2006, and in March 2005 she donated a total of $4,200 to Clinton, according to The Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org. She has not contributed to the Obama campaign, according to the database.

Women's Voices Executive Director Joe Goode worked for Bill Clinton's election campaign in 1992 as a pollster; the group's website says he was intimately involved in "development and implementation of all polling and focus groups done for the presidential primary and general election campaigns" for Clinton.

Women's Voices board member John Podesta, former Chief of Staff for President Bill Clinton, donated $2,300 to Hillary Clinton on April 19, 2007, according to OpenSecrets.org. Podesta also donated $1,000 to Barack Obama in July 2004, but that was well before Obama announced his candidacy for president.

"The reports from other states are very disturbing, especially the pattern of mass confusion among targeted voters on the eve of a state's primary," Democracy North Carolina's Bob Hall tells Facing South. "These are highly skilled political operatives -- something doesn't add up. Maybe it's all well-intended and explainable. At this moment, our first priority is to stop the robo-calls and prevent the chaos and potential disenfranchisement caused by this group sending 276,000 packets of registration forms into North Carolina a few days before a heated primary election. We need their immediate cooperation."

-snip
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/04/facing-south-exclusive-dc-nonprofit.asp


Maggie Williams, Griffin Williams Critical Point Management

Maggie Williams is a partner in GriffinWilliams LLC, a management consulting firm that helps public and private sector clients navigate transitions and respond to political challenges. As a private communications and management consultant, she has advised clients that include Scholastic Publishing Corporation, the Smithsonian Institution, Hillary Clinton for Senate, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation.

Williams served as chief of staff to former president Bill Clinton managing his policy and personal staff at the Clinton Foundation in New York City. From 1993-1997, Williams served in The White House as one of seventeen assistants to President Clinton and also served as chief of staff to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the course of a political and advocacy career spanning three decades, Williams has held numerous positions including director of communications for the Children's Defense Fund, deputy director of media relations for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, campaign press secretary to Senator Robert Torricelli, and deputy press secretary of the Democratic National Committee.

She holds a M.A. in Communication Philosophy from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Political Science and Urban Studies from Trinity College in Washington, D.C.



WVWV BOARD AND BIOS:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070706100052/http://www.wvwv.org/aboutwvwv/index.cfm?id=3


WHICH OF COURSE IS THIS MAGGIE WILLIAMS:

Maggie Williams, a longtime Hillary Clinton confidante, is reportedly being brought on to coordinate the campaign's activities. Insiders have urged campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle to stay on, but no decision has been made, according to senior-level campaign operatives.

-SNIP
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/maggie_williams_to_join_clinto.html


FOLLOW THE MONEY-WHO BENEFITS FROM THESE CALLS?

[madfloridian]

25. More from TPM....more of the gee I know nothing stuff. Podesta speaks.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/board_members_from_robo_callin.php

"And John Podesta, President Bill Clinton's former chief of staff and currently the president of the Center for American Progress, has sent us this statement:

"Women's Voices. Women Vote has a strong record of registering disenfranchised people so that they can participate in the political process. As a board member, I was aware of the general parameters of the group's voter registration program, but not the details of its execution. With respect to the calls and mailings made in North Carolina, I understand that remedial action is being undertaken. I agree with fellow board member William McNary that the North Carolina state calling program was a mistake of judgment and execution, and not an attempt to disenfranchise voters, and have been assured by Page Gardner, President of WVWV, that the organization will conduct a full and prompt accounting of the circumstances of the voter registration program for its board of directors."

That is just BS...it was not a "mistake in judgment"....it had to be deliberate.

From the comments there:

"A lot of apologies but nobody has yet fingered the telemarketer who was hired to make the calls. Why?

Because the telemarketer was probably a company called Integral Resources.

And Integral Resources is owned by Page Gardner's husband. And Page Gardner's husband made $770,000 for doing calls for WVWV in 2006.

Now isn't that embarrassing?

And Integral Resources has been caught doing shoddy work with ethnic voices in the past.

Now isn't that embarrassing?

And Integral Resources does work for the Obama Campaign, the DNC and other Democratic organizations.

Now isn't that embarrassing?

Would somebody please call WVWV and ask them which telemarketer they hired to do the calls. And ask them why they're covering it up?"


Just quoting.

This is no accident.

[mod mom]

16. "Hal Malchow, has done direct mail &/or telephone surveys both for the organization and for Clinton'

Also, a Women's Voices board member, Hal Malchow, has done direct mail and/or telephone surveys both for the organization and for Clinton's campaign. According to the group's IRS form, Malchow's company MSHC was paid more than $2,700 in 2006; MSHC conducts "telephone surveying" for Women's Voices, according to its website.

In addition, according to campaign finance filings, MSHC is owed more than $800,000 by the Clinton campaign, likely for direct mail.

Asked whether MSHC was involved in the Women's Voices robocall, an official with the firm said she was unable to comment. Likewise, officials with Women's Voices would not reveal who they had contracted out to conduct the calls.

-snip
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/30/money-ties-but-some-holes_n_99520.html

[Boz]

23. Hal Malchow is Page Gardners husband, Page Gardner is the WVWV Founder and President

And a close friend of Hillary Clinton

[mod mom]

30. Actually telemarketer Ron Rosenblith of Integral Resources is Page's hubby (made $770,000 by WVWV)

A lot of apologies but nobody has yet fingered the telemarketer who was hired to make the calls. Why?

Because the telemarketer was probably a company called Integral Resources.

And Integral Resources is owned by Page Gardner's husband. And Page Gardner's husband made $770,000 for doing calls for WVWV in 2006.

Now isn't that embarrassing?

And Integral Resources has been caught doing shoddy work with ethnic voices in the past.



-snip

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/board_members_from_robo_callin.php#comment-2772503





Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Women's Voices Women's Vote Event!
Reminder - Please join John D. Podesta and the American Progress Action Fund for a lunch briefing on

Women's Voices Women's Vote

with

Stan Greenberg, Chief Executive Officer, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc.

Anna Greenberg, Vice President, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc.

Chris Desser, Co-Director, Women's Voices Women's Vote

Page Gardner, Co-Director, Women's Voices Women's Vote

Ron Rosenblith, Chief Executive Officer and President, Integral Resources

Hal Malchow, President, Malchow Schlackman & Hoppey

In an election year characterized by high voter turnout, unmarried women not only increased their numbers but also increased their share by the most of any demographic group in the country. Unmarried women constituted 22% of the electorate in the 2004, representing a growth of 7 million voters nationally, since the 2000 elections. Despite this enormous increase in turnout, unmarried women remain under-represented.

The marital gap has emerged as a defining dynamic in public policy today. Eclipsing the gender gap significantly, it proves to be a significant predictor of voting, independent of the effects of age, income, education and gender.

Come hear a presentation by Women's Voices Women's Vote summarizing the important findings of four election studies: national exit polling data, state exit polling data, an oversample of the Democracy Corps post election survey, and a survey of unmarried women in the 16 states in which WVWV conducted programs. Hal Malchow and Ron Rosenblith will also present the results of some of the WVWV programs.

-SNIP

http://www.ombwatch.org/article/blogs/entry/425/31




This was what struck Page Gardner after the 2000 election. A liberal political activist and consultant in Washington, Gardner decided to examine exit polling data, census data and a variety of public opinion studies. "I thought everyone was sort of missing the point in terms of the post-election analysis," she said.

As she began crunching numbers with her husband, Ron Rosenblith, a political consultant and former aide to Kerry, she discovered that single women and men were not registering to vote in numbers that reflected their proportion of the population.

-snip

http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/members/news/2004/May-News/single_women_voters.htm

[Boz]

36. Now it gets weird, is that one former and one current husband involved or does shes have two.

[Boz]

18. And 2 months before Hillary was toasting with Chelsea sitting right next to Page Gardner

Page Gardner is the WVWV Founder and President

The lawyer for the organization is the lawyer who defended Bill Clinton during the impeachment.

This is going to go south real fast.

[mod mom]

19. not fast enough-it's disgusting. A new low for even her.

[stillcool]

11. A non-issue?

AG: Recent Robo-Calls On Voting Info. Are Illegal
http://www.nbc17.com/media/NCN/2008/04/30/0022.Image.NULL,NULL.300,188,2,NULL,NULL.MGSpooler.img
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Thousands of North Carolinians have received automated phone calls in the last few days that state officials said the broke the law.

The calls started last week as voters began getting automated phone messages telling them to expect a voter registration packet in the mail.

The problem was, North Carolina’s register-by-mail deadline had passed nearly two weeks earlier, and many who were already registered became confused.

As the complaints began to pile up, those cataloging them began to notice a pattern where certain groups seemed to be targeted.


The situation was brought to the attention of Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office. He said those automated phone calls are illegal.
-------------------------------------------------

“A lot of the complaints came from African-American voters,” said Chris Kromm of the Institute for Southern Studies. “When we heard a lot of the complaints were coming from African-Americans, that really raised a red flag for us.”

Kromm also said the institute's research indicates the Women's Voice group has a number of interesting connections to Bill Clinton.

“They claim they're a non-profit, non partisan organization. But, its president is a recent donor to Hill-Pac, a big Hillary funding group. The executive director worked for Bill Clinton in his ‘92 campaign and the lawyer for the organization is the lawyer who defended Clinton during the impeachment crisis in the 90's,” said Kromm
http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-30-0016.html

Washington, D.C., Group Accused of High-Tech Dirty Tricks to Suppress Black Vote
By Sarah Lai Stirland EmailApril 30, 2008 | 5:41:18 PM
Categories: Election '08
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/north-carolin-1.html

A D.C. advocacy group called Women's Voices, Women's Vote is being accused of waging a high-tech voter suppression campaign, after voters in predominantly black districts in North Carolina began receiving automated phone calls implying that they hadn't properly registered to vote in the upcoming Democratic primary.

Voters began complaining to The Raleigh News & Observer last week that they were receiving the automated calls, which the paper reported were primarily going to black households. The calls play a 20-second message voiced by a man who calls himself "Lamont Williams."
---------------------------------------

Don Powell, who runs a political phone-calling company in Portland, Oregon, says the fact that the autodial campaign was performed anonymously suggests it wasn't an innocent mistake. In general, he says, anonymous, automated campaigns are designed to suppress voter turnout.

"It does happen in North Carolina," he said. "It works, or they wouldn't bother. It's sleazy money, and it affects people like me who would never think about doing this.

[KittyWampus]

4. incompetence on such a large scale & over time is not accidental. Like NeoCons,

who profit from such "incompetence".

It's intentional.

[mod mom]

6. How hard is it for a well funded group to get correct information from SOS in each state?

Why the repeated problems of deadline misinformation? Why hide who the call was from as well as the caller telephone ? (both illegal) Why use an Af Am sounding voice and name if the intent is to reach women? Why tell the press thing are being corrected back in February but the same issues occurring in late April?

You are correct-who profits from this? Incompetence of a well funded group like this just doesn't pass the smell test!

[City Lights]

7. This reminds me of Team Clinton's stand in NV..."It's not illegal unless

they tell you so."

This group knows exactly what it's doing.

[Barack_America]

13. Unfortunately for them, the NC AG just "told them so".

So I read this "apology" as more of a "please don't throw our asses in jail!"

[indimuse]

10. Where are all the news cameras and press releases?

PROOF??????

[flpoljunkie]

20. Good question!

[NJmaverick]

12. I'm sure it's all an innocent mistake

[progressoid]

28. Yeah, probably a computer glitch.

That kinda thing happens all the time.

[sabra]

33. are you missing a sarcasm tag?

[progressoid]

35. Oops - forgot.

With all the crap from the last 7 years, seems like sarcasm is all I have left!

[myrna minx]

15. K&R.

[libnnc]

21. kick

:kick:

[americanstranger]

22. 'I'm sorry I funneled almost a million dollars to my husband's company.'

This is a conflict of interest. This organization is supposed to be a non-profit, and the CEO is raking in huge bucks under the guise of 'informing voters.'

It's a fucking scam, and they should lose their 501 classification as a result.

- as

[knixphan]

24. K&R

[MattBaggins]

26. Well isn't this just icing on the cake

So we Democratic groups falling into the lowest holes the Republicans use. Robo calls targeting the AA community with dis-information. What will they try next? Flyers telling them if they have out standing parking tickets they can't vote or lying about the actual polling spots? Really disgusting when our party is using republican voter suppression scams.

[nichomachus]

27. We need a ban on political robo calls -- period

It isn't a freedom of speech issue, as they will claim. No one is trying to stop them from saying the content of their speech -- just the way in which they deliver it.

I don't want to get these calls. I find them annoying and disruptive. I work from home, so I have to answer my phone when it rings. I have no choice. It also ties up the phone lines with very little cost or effort on the part of the party sending the calls.

If we can't get a ban, then we have to let candidates -- on both sides of the aisle -- know that we will not support them if they make the calls. And then stick to it. I even get pissed of when it's a call from someone I support.

But a total ban would be best.

[nsd]

29. Well, this clears up nothing.

So far WVWV haven't answered even the most obvious and basic questions. For example:
Who is "Lamont Williams"?
If they're trying to reach single women, why did they use a man's voice? And why did many of their mailings go to men?
Why was caller ID blocked on their robo-calls?
Why didn't they identify themselves on those calls?
Given all the complaints earlier this year, why haven't they taken steps to improve?
Where does their money come from? WVWV collected a lot more this election cycle than in the past. Who were these new donors?

[Seabiscuit]

31. When you got nothing, blame Hillary enough to dump "scrutiny" on her.

Why can't Obamanoids simply report factual information without resorting to these kinds of smears and innuendo?

[Texas Hill Country]

34. what EXACTLY do the calls say?

[marions ghost]

37. To hear the recording of the call...

GO HERE:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/1/84059/86757/567/506918

Then scroll down to this paragraph and click on "tape recording":

"It was 11 weeks later -- over two and a half months -- that Women's Voices began blanketing North Carolina with anonymous robo-calls from a fictitious caller named "Lamont Williams." As a tape recording of the North Carolina calls show, the calls in no way identify their source. Recipients of the calls tell Facing South that the phone number of the caller was also blocked."