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Voter mailing rubs some wrong way

By Jason Stoogenke, wsoctv.com
By Jason Stoogenke, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE — Some say a new political mailing is misleading or even deceptive because they said it looks like it’s from the government, making sure the recipients registered to vote.

The envelope reads, "Government document enclosed. Do not discard," with the second sentence in bold.
 
"According to public records, no one at this address is currently registered to vote," the letter reads.
 
The mailing does include a blank voter registration form inside so technically, there is a government document inside the envelope.
 
The letter asks people to fill out the form and send it back to an address in Raleigh, which Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke found, is a UPS Store post office box. 
 
Then the letter reads, "We will be reviewing the county voter file in eight weeks to see if you have mailed your form."
 
Group behind mailing
 
Stoogenke found this mailing is not from the government and it's OK to discard it. 
 
It's from a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., called The Voter Participation Center.  It tries to register women, minorities, and young people to vote. It claims to have registered more than 2 million voters in its history.
 
NC fines VPC
 
North Carolina fined the organization $100,000 for robocalls in 2008 when it was using a different name, Women's Voices Women Vote.  
 
Stoogenke questions group
 
Stoogenke asked the head of VPC, Page Gardner, about the mailing. 
 
"You have to admit though, it may look like to the average person that this is from the government directly," Stoogenke said. "It has that bold print right there on the envelope."
 
"If they have a question about anything on the registration application, we provide them a way to get in touch with us," Gardner said. "We provide them a website to get in touch with us. We try to be, and we think we are, as transparent as possible."
 
The mailing does mention the group's name and nonprofit status about a dozen times. 
 
Stoogenke also asked various election officials about the mailer. 
 
Mecklenburg County election officials said VPC seems to have inaccurate voter information, but that the group has passed along hundreds of registration forms to the office. 
 
"They have sent numerous mailings," Mecklenburg County election spokesperson said. "The data they used to send the emails was bad, however, we have received hundreds of applications from the organization. It is not a red flag if mailed to Raleigh. It is just a waste because it will ultimately have to be processed in our office."
 
Wake County election officials said they've had several inquiries, not complaints, about the group and that one concerned woman showed up who got the mailer went to the election office.
 
"She just was inquiring why she got it because she said that it was actually mailed to her, but it was using her maiden name that had changed back in the (1980s)," said a Wake County elections spokesperson.
 
Voter: 'Very uncomfortable'
 
Some still think it's designed to make citizens think that if they ignore it, they would be breaking the law.  The North Carolina Attorney General has already received a complaint.
 
Uduah Affiah said he was afraid to throw it out. 
 
"I would take a look at it to begin with," he said. 
 
Jael Fehrenbacher also said, "Pretty much feel if anything has a government document written on it, that it's at least worthy of opening."
 
Pattie Rhudy doesn't like the part about "reviewing the county voter file in eight weeks to see if you have mailed your form." 
 
"Checking up on you," she said. "(That makes me) very uncomfortable. Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
 
Advice
 
If someone wants to register to vote, he or she can do that through a third party, but there's really no reason to because it can be done directly by clicking on this form.

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