Fraud on Anti-Gay Petition

BOSTON, MA (U.S. Newswire) -- MassEquality today praised Sen. Ed Augustus and other legislative leaders who persuaded the Senate to approve legislation that would make it much more difficult for paid signature-gatherers to engage in fraud, deception and forgery in the signature-gathering process for initiative petitions.

"The Senate demonstrated today that it's more important to stand up for everyday citizens who are being bullied and fooled by paid-signature gatherers than to side with political operatives out to make a buck at all costs," said Marty Rouse, MassEquality's campaign director.

"Our opponents promised a clean, volunteer-driven, grassroots campaign, but we've been subjected to out-of-state firms that bus in out-of-state collectors to make their numbers," added Marc Solomon, the political director. "This is not a neighbor-to- neighbor campaign. This is a hired gun operation which is tricking people to sign an anti-gay measure after signing a petition at their local grocery stores allowing for wine sales. Getting something on the ballot shouldn't encourage stealing the signatures of unwitting Massachusetts citizens."

Among key provisions, the bill would enable voters whose signatures were forged or obtained by fraud to withdraw their signatures from the petition. Additionally, it would criminalize "bait-and-switch" practices, making it a crime to tell voters they are signing one petition and then tricking them into signing a different one. Signatures collected in this manner would also be disqualified.

Since VoteOnMarriage began collecting signatures on the anti- gay marriage petition, dozens of citizens have reported specific abuses to MassEquality. Citizens were asked to sign a petition to allow wine to be sold at their local grocery stores, then were told they needed to sign the wine petition two or three times, only to find that they had inadvertently signed the anti-gay marriage petition. In western Massachusetts, MassEquality has received complaints about additional forms of "bait-and-switch" activity, including a petitioner who asked citizens to sign to raise the minimum wage -- when in fact the petitioner was presenting the marriage petition for signature.

Other key elements of the bill include requiring organizations that are using paid signature-collectors to report how much they are paying the collectors. At the recent hearing of the Election Laws Committee, Massachusetts Family Institute President Kris Mineau refused to tell members of the committee how much it was paying its major contractor, Arno Political Consultants, a California-based firm that helps conservative causes.

"We know that much of the damage on this petition has already been done," said Rouse. "But this bill ensures that the next time a petition is advanced, it will be much harder for money- making outfits to take over the process. And it will make it much easier for citizens to withdraw their name from a petition if it was gained through use of deception and fraud."