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paid gop workers say they misled wis. voters
Published November 4, 2008Views: 132
By Associated Press4:29 AM EST, November 4, 2008
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Four employees hired by a temporary staffing agency to encourage absentee voting for Republican presidential candidate John McCainGOP volunteers.
Kevin Kennedy, director of the state's Government Accountability Board, said he received complaints that the workers were told to mislead voters into believing they were volunteers. The complaints have been forwarded to local district attorneys, he said, but it's unclear whether the alleged deception would be a crime.
The employees told The Associated Press on Monday they were hired by Allstaff Labor Group to go door to door in the Milwaukee suburbs locating McCain supporters and distributing absentee ballot request forms. Allstaff recruited them under a contract with a consulting firm hired by the Republican Party of Wisconsin to run its absentee ballot program.
The workers claim they were told to say they were GOP volunteers even though they were getting paid $10 an hour. They were required to sign agreements stating they would not publicly discuss their work but said they decided to speak out because they were angry they had not been paid for the last few days. They claim they are owed between $200 and $300. say they were instructed to tell people they were
GOP spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski confirmed there was a dispute over how many hours the employees worked and said the party's vendor was working to resolve it.
She said the workers spent three weeks distributing the forms to McCain supporters around the state. The program's managers were instructed to "accurately represent the program" to the workers, Kukowski said.
The paid employees, who were working at GOP offices alongside volunteers, may have picked up scripts intended for volunteers, she said.
"We did not instruct them to misrepresent themselves," Kukowski wrote in an e-mail.
Allstaff representatives did not return phone messages seeking comment.
The agency was only one of many hired by GOP consulting firm Lincoln Strategy Group to run the party's absentee ballot request distribution program.
"I told the Republican Party and Allstaff I wanted to know why we were lying to these residents," said Loyalty Dixon, 26, who worked in Waukesha for about two weeks. "I said, 'Isn't that fraudulent?' They didn't give me a good explanation. They said, 'You guys know you're getting paid. Don't worry about it.'"
She recalled getting praised by people for being a McCain supporter. Some even asked whether she was getting paid, she said.
"We had to lie to these people and say we were volunteers," she said.
Three other employees shared similar stories.
"They had us say, 'I'm volunteering for the Republican Party of Wisconsin," said Marquis Mayes, 23. "I asked them, why would we say we were volunteers and we're not? They didn't have an answer for that."
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-gop-workers,0,2802369.story
Filed under: News & Issues
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lol...Tmedlin, redefining the English language...
GOLO member since November 21, 2007
November 4, 2008 8:49 p.m.
GOLO member since February 18, 2010
November 4, 2008 5:01 p.m.
And as of right now you still haven't posted to either of his blogs, so be careful where you affix that sticker, I hear the adhesives can cause a rash and you don't want a rash on your forehead...how silly would that be?
GOLO member since November 21, 2007
November 4, 2008 2:01 p.m.
well, then. lets recap, shall we?
"My last two blogs are echoes of this story. I notice that Tmed only responds to news approved by the Fox network." zeke37
"If I don't allow you to comment on my blogs, Zeke, I don't comment on yours...it's actually that simple." YOU
Maybe you can read in IN YOU OWN comment why someone might get that impression, and then look in the mirror for that idiot label.
GOLO member since November 21, 2007
November 4, 2008 1:50 p.m.
GOLO member since February 18, 2010
November 4, 2008 11:23 a.m.
GOLO member since December 17, 2007
November 4, 2008 10:32 a.m.
LOL, you must have disagreed with her and mounted a credible enough argument that she viewed you as a threat. That's typically what causes it.
GOLO member since June 10, 2008
November 4, 2008 8:43 a.m.
You blocked Zeke already...that didn't take long. And please stop pretending you are "teaching" folks by "putting them in time out"...you avoid dissent because you offer lame counterpoint and can't handle it when people call you on it...your message is old, tired and recycled garbage (but I guess I should be glad 'cuz in that respect...you're going green)
sorry, ladyblue has tons of class, you have none.
GOLO member since November 21, 2007
November 4, 2008 8:14 a.m.
Point 2 - why take the job if the employer tells you to lie. This is where our society is really failing. The people that knowingly took these jobs share the blame of the misrepresentation, yet somehow they do not see themselves as having any responsibility for what they did.
Is it any wonder that the legal profession is a growing industry.
GOLO member since October 18, 2007
November 4, 2008 8:03 a.m.
GOLO member since February 18, 2010
November 4, 2008 7:54 a.m.
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