Yesterday, through some mutual friends, I was invited by a representative of Women's Voices Women Vote to submit questions to them to which they would respond, pledging to reprint their answers in full. These were my questions, and their answers, via spokesperson Sarah Johnson:
For the NC calls:
What types of voters were being targeted?
While our focus is on unmarried women, we have worked to target other under-represented groups in through our project, the Voter Participation Center. Like many other organizations, WVWV focuses on registering unregistered voters across the country from demographic groups that are underrepresented in our democracy. Specifically we target unregistered voters and voters that have previously been registered but have moved and need to reregister. While our focus is unmarried women, we have also worked to motivate African Americans, Hispanics and young people just turning 18 years of age to register.
Since last July WVWV has generated about 400,000 voter registration applications; from coast to coast from underrepresented demographic groups. Already in this period WVWV has successfully encouraged more than 27,000 individuals to register in North Carolina alone.
On what dates were calls being made?
Last Thursday and Friday
What steps are being taken to correct any misinformation? Will WVWV be placing a follow-up set of calls to assure these folks that if they previously registered to vote, they need do nothing else?
We have communicated with the North Carolina State Board of Elections to notify them that WVWV is prepared to work with them to address any confusion that may have resulted from this recent activity. In addition, one of the first things WVWV did after hearing peoples' concerns was to contact bloggers and others that had gotten in touch with us. We have also worked with the firm that does our mailing to see if there was a way the mailing could be held and not delivered, and to begin a dialogue with folks to clear up any remaining confusion.
We have had significant success in delaying the mail in North Carolina. We understand that a majority of the mail that was going to North Carolina will not be delivered, and our folks are continuing to try to make sure that as much of the NC mail as possible is held until a later date.
Who is Lamont Williams, and why was an African American male voice used for a voter registration drive (presumably) targeted at unmarried women?
Mr. Williams is a professional voice talent. While the primary goal of WVWV is to register unmarried women to vote, the Voter Participation Center, a project of WVWV works to engage other under-represented Americans. There were two recorded calls made. The call from Lamont Williams went to men, and a recorded call from a female was used to contact women.
Why no disclosure on the calls as to your sponsorship of them?
That was a mistake. We regret the error and will ensure it does not happen
again.
In general:
What other states have received calls, and when? [what voter pools?]
Prospective registrants received calls in 24 states during the same timeframe. [Last Thursday-Friday.] As stated above WVWV focuses its efforts on registering traditionally underrepresented individuals.
[Added: On February 6-7, more than 4.1 million homes [were contacted] in 22 states: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington State, and Wisconsin.]
How were the dates for calling determined? Was it in reference to the primary registration deadline or primary election date?
The calls were scheduled to coincide with the arrival of the voter registration applications. We regret any confusion that has arised as a consequence of this timing.
Did the feedback from states like Wisconsin lead to any changes in how WVWV implemented this program?
WVWV always welcomes feedback from those who are tasked with maximizing the number of people that are registered to vote and to get voters to participate in our great democracy. WVWV has made a significant number of changes to its mailings at the request of various state officials and welcomes communication with such officials. We would note that we notify these offices when we are sending the mail. In the case of North Carolina we also issued a press release to tell people that the mailing was coming and that it was intended for the general election, not the primary.
Have WVWV staff members communicated or coordinated in any way with any political campaign in implementing this program?
No.
And this is a new statement from board member John Podesta:
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.
Reaction: First off, I am not inclined to believe that this was a conspiracy for voter suppression designed from the highest reaches of the Clinton campaign. I think such a view misunderstands the typical role of a Board of Directors with a nonprofit organization. As someone who serves on several such boards, I can tell you that we're not there every day and don't run things on a day-to-day basis. That's what the staff is for, and I do find it difficult to believe that a Board of Directors with such diverse interests would deliberately direct a scheme to misdirect and misinform duly registered voters.
That said, I am deeply, disappointed that a group has done research and media outreach as well as WVWV has could screw this up so badly. Over and over again, voters and officials in states like Virginia, Oregon, Wisconsin and Michigan complained that these calls were going on (a) at times likely to provoke voter confusion as to their registration status and (b) without disclosing their source. And still, WVWV did it again in North Carolina. [The anonymous calls are particularly troubling, given WVWV's pledge months ago to identify themselves on all calls.]
The basic problem is this: when you call people who are registered to vote and give them the impression that they are not, then compound the error by making such calls at a time when there's nothing the voter can do about it, you're going to lead to a lot of registered voters who believe they're unable to vote. Whether the result of deliberate design or massive negligence on the part of WVWV and/or its vendors in terms of the timing of the calls and the determination of who would be called, the end result is something which rightly raised suspicions about the intent of this program.
I understand that some have defended WVWV by arguing that post-primary deadline is actually the most successful time to register voters, but not when you're consistently confusing voters and angering state elections boards while doing so. Given the complaints, this should have been fixed or ended long before now.
Honestly, I don't think WVWV has gone far enough to fix the mess they've made. A press release and withholding some of the mailing isn't enough. I believe they're obligated to go through the list of every NC resident/residence they called and determine who is eligible to vote. They should explain to those voters that they were reached in error and should show up and vote on May 6. They should call back the unregistered voters and inform them that one-stop absentee registration and voting is still available until Saturday. And they should explain who they are, and how WVWV can be reached if there's any questions.
[When an Obama campaign vendor accidentally called thousands of Washington state voters with the wrong caucus date, they re-called all of them -- at their own expense.]
Big errors require big solutions, and I believe steps like these could confirm the good faith which so many of us had in WVWV's work.
