{"id":2222611,"date":"2024-04-16T17:24:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T21:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unofficial-voter-registration-site-collects-pennsylvanians-info-for-political-activities\/"},"modified":"2024-04-16T17:28:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T21:28:48","slug":"unofficial-voter-registration-site-collects-pennsylvanians-info-for-political-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unofficial-voter-registration-site-collects-pennsylvanians-info-for-political-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"Unauthorized Voter Registration Platform Gathers Personal Data of Pennsylvania Residents for &#8216;Political Purposes"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Funofficial-voter-registration-site-collects-pennsylvanians-info-for-political-activities%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2222611&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A \u200dleft-wing\u2063 website resembling the Pennsylvania State Department&#8217;s\u200d domain is registering voters, potentially using their information for political endeavors. Pennsylvanians are misled to visit a similarly named site not \u200caffiliated with the state. This\u2064 unofficial site requests phone numbers\u2063 for registration, \u200bpossibly leading \u2063to \u200bpartisan\u200c messages. The \u2064site&#8217;s association with a political nonprofit raises concerns over privacy practices disclosed in their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/special-thanks-to-the-new-york-times-for-accidentally-providing-the-data-that-will-bring-down-biden-and-crack-the-biggest-vote-fraud-in-history\/\" title=\"SPECIAL THANKS to The New York Times for Accidentally Providing the Data that Will Bring Down Biden and CRACK THE BIGGEST VOTE FRAUD IN HISTORY\">privacy policy<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nike-responds-after-lil-nas-x-satan-shoes-spark-backlash\/\" title=\"Nike Responds After Lil Nas X \u2018Satan Shoes\u2019\u00a0Spark Backlash\">left-wing website<\/a> has been using a near-identical domain name as the Pennsylvania State Department to register new voters \u2014 with the catch that those voters\u2019 contact information may be used for \u201cpolitical efforts and activities,\u201d according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/broadandliberty.com\/2024\/04\/15\/democratic-aligned-voter-registration-website-harvests-personal-data-for-partisan-political-messaging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> by Broad and Liberty\u2019s Todd Shepherd. <\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvanians can visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-pennsylvania-state-sen-doug-mastriano-wanted-government-to-publicly-report-identities-of-everyone-who-got-coronavirus\/\" title=\"Report: Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano Wanted Government to Publicly Report Identities of Everyone Who Got Coronavirus\">official state website<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/vote.pa.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vote.pa.gov<\/a>, to register to vote. But some Pennsylvanians may be being duped by a very similar website that isn\u2019t affiliated with the state: <a href=\"http:\/\/Vote.pa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vote.pa<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The latter website, according to internet <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240415124930\/https:\/\/vote.pa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">archives<\/a>, directed individuals to \u201cregister to vote\u201d at the top of its homepage. (\u201cSometime on Monday after\u00a0Broad + Liberty\u00a0had requested comment from the owners of Vote.pa, the website was changed so that the top option was \u2018Check your Registration&#8217;\u201d instead, Shepherd reported. The website\u2019s dropdown menu still <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/Xof2y\">offers<\/a> an <a href=\"https:\/\/vote.pa\/register\/#0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">option<\/a> to register to vote.)<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Voters who use the unofficial site are presumably registered with the State Department, but only after being forced to provide a phone number \u2014 which is optional when using the state\u2019s official website, according to Shepherd. If you use vote.pa to register to vote, \u201cdon\u2019t be surprised a few weeks later if the website is also sliding into your text messages urging you to vote for your local Democratic candidate,\u201d Shepherd said. A box on the registration form gives registrants the option to \u201copt-in for SMS messages,\u201d but the form doesn\u2019t say what kinds of messages users are signing up for \u2014 and many voters might assume they\u2019re simply signing up for Election Day reminders.<\/p>\n<p>The bottom of the website says it is paid for by \u201cCommonwealth Communications,\u201d not to be confused with the <em>Commonwealth<\/em> of Pennsylvania. Commonwealth Communications, Shepherd noted, is \u201ca 501(c)4 political nonprofit run by J.J. Abbott, Governor Wolf\u2019s former press secretary turned political operative.\u201d The Commonwealth Communications X account describes itself as \u201cthe comms and digital hub of PA\u2019s progressive community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The site\u2019s privacy policy <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240415125026\/https:\/\/vote.pa\/privacy-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notifies<\/a> individuals that their personal information may be used \u201cin connection with our political efforts and activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two Democrat state senators even directed Pennsylvanians to the leftist-aligned registration page. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease make sure your voter registration is up to date,\u201d Berks County Sen. Judy Schwank posted on X. \u201cIf you need to make any changes, you need to have those completed before midnight to vote in the April 23rd election. You can check and make changes easily online here,\u201d she added with a link to vote.pa.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Please make sure your voter registration is up to date. If you need to make any changes, you need to have those completed before midnight to vote in the April 23rd election. <\/p>\n<p>You can check and make changes easily online here: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Bp5XW4fryn\">https:\/\/t.co\/Bp5XW4fryn<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Judy Schwank (@judyschwankPA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/judyschwankPA\/status\/1777423824444678483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>State Senator Jay Costa, who represents part of Allegheny County, also linked to the site. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI really want to earn your vote, but first we have to make sure you\u2019re registered to cast it. Make any updates, changes, or register for the first time before midnight tonight,\u201d he posted on April 8.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>I really want to earn your vote, but first we have to make sure you&#8217;re registered to cast it. <\/p>\n<p>Make any updates, changes, or register for the first time before midnight tonight.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sPDMVTULgk\">https:\/\/t.co\/sPDMVTULgk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Jay Costa (@JayCostaPA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JayCostaPA\/status\/1777412768829690280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Federalist reached out to both Schwank and Costa but did not hear back. Neither senator returned Shepherd\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>House Appropriations Chairman Seth Grove told Shepherd that \u201cVote.pa is an obvious attempt to steal information from voters or potential voters who are very likely looking for the Department of State\u2019s website.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThird-party organizations should under no circumstances collect people\u2019s personal information under the guise of \u2018voter registration\u2019,\u201d Grove reportedly said. \u201cHouse Bill 1300, a comprehensive and bipartisan election code update bill I authored last session, would have outlawed this practice. Unfortunately, Governor Wolf vetoed this bill because HB 1300 contained a Voter ID provision.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A website with similar domain to the Pennsylvania State Department is registering new voters. However, the site may use voters&#8217; details for political purposes. Reports by Todd Shepherd of Broad and Liberty highlight this issue. Pennsylvanians are advised to use the official state website, vote.pa.gov, for voter registration procedures<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2222612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5926256-e1713295671385.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2222611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5926256-e1713295671385.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2222611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2222612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2222611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2222611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2222611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}