Color of Change Takes on "Voter Fraud" billboards
Submitted by Anastasia Pantsios on Sat, 10/13/2012 - 4:24pm.
National advocacy organization Color of Change, which could roughly be described as a black MoveOn.org, is calling attention to the "Voter Fraud Is a Felony" billboards that are going up in black and Latino neighborhoods around Ohio, funded by a cowardly, democracy-hating anonymous "family foundation."
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/billboards
They say,
It’s one of the nastiest voter suppression schemes we’ve seen: this week, in Black and Latino neighborhoods in Ohio and Wisconsin, an anonymous group started running outrageous billboards which try to scare people away from voting.
They've got a petition up you can sign, asking Clear Channel to remove the billboards:
Allowing an anonymous advertiser to create an atmosphere of fear around voting just as the early voting period begins is unacceptable. I ask that you remove these billboards at once. I know that in the past, you have rejected billboard ads when leadership in your company deemed the content to be politically charged. This campaign of misinformation fits that criteria and is a dangerous disservice to the Black and Latino communities in which they are placed.
I get inundated with petitions, and pass on most of them, particularly ones that ask me to get outraged about an injustice to one individual whose case I know little about. But this is egregious, and I'm signing this one. Such billboards are a sign of desperation, and given how much confusion has been sown about voter rights, a less-than-informed voter could easily be scared into staying away from the polls. (For instance, many people released from prison think they are unable to vote. But once they have served their time, they are legal to register and vote).
The fact that this was done anonymously should merit contempt from all sides. This is one petition worth signing.
