{"id":2362986,"date":"2024-11-01T20:35:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T00:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leftist-groups-turn-to-threats-to-get-out-the-vote\/"},"modified":"2024-11-01T21:32:03","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T01:32:03","slug":"leftist-groups-turn-to-threats-to-get-out-the-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leftist-groups-turn-to-threats-to-get-out-the-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Leftist Groups Turn To Threats To Get Out The Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Fleftist-groups-turn-to-threats-to-get-out-the-vote%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=2362986&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>In a tightening presidential race, \u2063leftist\u2063 groups are reportedly resorting\u2063 to intimidation tactics to influence voter turnout just \u2062days before the election. \u2062The Maryland Attorney General&#8217;s\u2064 Office has issued a warning to the Voter Participation Center (VPC) regarding mailers sent to residents, which threaten to disclose their voting records. \u200dMaryland Attorney General Anthony Brown sent a cease-and-desist letter after\u200b complaints arose \u200dabout the VPC&#8217;s &#8220;voting report cards&#8221; designed to\u200d shame residents into voting. \u2062The mailers alarmingly state that the organization will review neighbors&#8217; voting participation after\u2064 election day.<\/p>\n<p>Brown condemned such tactics, emphasizing \u2063that actions intimidating\u2064 potential voters, especially before a significant election, will not be tolerated in Maryland. The VPC, which claims to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-puts-susan-rice-in-charge-of-effort-to-expand-vote-by-mail\/\" title=\"Biden Puts Susan Rice in Charge of Effort to Expand Vote by Mail\">promote voter registration<\/a> \u200band participation, has been criticized for using pressure tactics\u2063 that often blur ethical lines. Additionally, similar voter intimidation efforts\u200c have been observed\u2062 nationwide, with reports of groups encouraging individuals to confront friends and family about their voting \u200dhabits.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, including\u200d investigative\u200c researchers like \u200bParker Thayer from the Capital Research\u200c Center, argue that these methods exemplify desperation among leftist \u200corganizations as they\u200c seek to mobilize voters. The\u200d VPC\u2064 has faced scrutiny over its practices for years, linked \u200bto controversies over\u200c misleading mailings targeting various demographic\u2064 groups, and past individuals have described \u2064such intimidation as detrimental to the democratic process. the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/left-wing-california-da-under-recall-quietly-drops-1000-cases-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Left-wing California DA under recall quietly drops 1,000 cases - Washington Examiner\">situation reflects broader concerns<\/a> about the atmosphere\u2062 surrounding voter participation and integrity leading up to \u2064the\u2062 elections.  <\/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<p>Growing increasingly desperate in a tight presidential race, leftist groups appear to be turning to the intimidation game just days before the election.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Maryland Attorney General&rsquo;s Office is warning the infamous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voterparticipation.org\/about-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Voter Participation Center<\/a> to stop sending mailers to residents &ldquo;threatening to expose&rdquo; their voting records.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, sent the VPC a cease-and-desist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov\/News%20Documents\/10312024_Cease%20and%20Desist_MDOAG_Signed.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> after Marylanders complained of receiving the group&rsquo;s so-called &ldquo;voting report card&rdquo; attempting to shame people into voting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to share who does and does not vote in an effort to promote election participation. While we have hidden the name and street number of your neighbors to protect privacy, these are their true voting records,&rdquo; the mailer warns. &ldquo;We will be reviewing these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbors in voting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov\/press\/2024\/103124b.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press release<\/a>, Brown admonished the voter registration activist group that &ldquo;any action that intimidates prospective voters, especially on the eve of such a consequential election, will not be tolerated.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Voting is among the most important rights that Marylanders have,&rdquo; the AG wrote. &ldquo;Let me be clear: these unnerving letters are unacceptable, and Maryland voters should know that their decision to vote this Election Day is entirely theirs to make.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;It&rsquo;s Really Gross&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>The VPC, which bills itself as a &ldquo;non-profit, non-partisan organization&rdquo; with a mission to &ldquo;help members of the New American Majority register and vote,&rdquo; has been using such tactics for the better part of two decades, said Parker Thayer, investigative researcher at the <a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Capital Research Center<\/a>. He said the VPC and groups like it are rarely held accountable. They use the First Amendment to push their intimidation campaign.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Maryland residents aren&rsquo;t the only Americans receiving threatening voting messages.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This particular bullying tactic to try and intimidate or bully people into voting has been incredibly popular this election cycle,&rdquo; Thayer told me in a phone interview Friday afternoon from battleground Michigan. &ldquo;This is a tactic of desperation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As Thayer noted on X, the leftist group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCn4sPeUomNGIr26bElVdDYg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NowThis Impact<\/a> created a website that shows users how to &ldquo;stalk the voting history of an ex, friend, or family member and bully them for not voting.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You go to <a href=\"http:\/\/didmyfriendsvote.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">didmyfriendsvote.org<\/a>, you put in their name, age range, and the place that they&rsquo;re registered to vote,&rdquo; a young woman in a video on the site explains. &ldquo;As an example, I did my mom, and she&rsquo;s actually voted quite a bit.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But then I did this boy who I used to be involved with in college. I thought he was a voter this whole time, and nope! Just keep in mind that it&rsquo;s more difficult for some to vote than others; there are a lot of barriers to voting. But this man didn&rsquo;t have any barriers, so I will be having a conversation with him,&rdquo; the young activist shouts while pointing her finger at the camera. &ldquo;And yeah, babes, just remember that this is a double-edged sword. No one can see who you voted for, but they can see if they voted. So if you&rsquo;re sharing a lot of Instagram graphics, you&rsquo;d better be backing that sh-t up in November on Election Day.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>The Left&rsquo;s get-out-the-vote ads have reached an absolutely psychotic level of desperation.<\/p>\n<p>This time <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nowthisimpact?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@nowthisimpact<\/a> created a website that advertises the ability to easily stalk the voting history of an ex, friend, or family member and bully them for not voting.<\/p>\n<p>Just watch: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2854QMWSWm\">pic.twitter.com\/2854QMWSWm<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Parker Thayer (@ParkerThayer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ParkerThayer\/status\/1851454578371199350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Thayer said leftist NowThis Impact, which bills itself as a media outlet, is among several leftist organizations pushing out voter participation threats in the name of expanding voter participation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really gross. We&rsquo;ve had a lot of toxic elections groups say that they are fighting for democracy while they are doing everything they can to make this election as toxic as possible,&rdquo; Thayer said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Inaccurate and Potentially Misleading&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>The Voter Participation Center was founded in 2003, starting out as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/womens-voices-women-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Women&rsquo;s Voices Women Vote<\/a>, according to InfluenceWatch, Capital Research Center&rsquo;s nonprofit tracker.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The group initially focused on registering the strongly Democratic-leaning voting bloc of single women to vote; today, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alabama-secretary-of-state-warns-of-misleading-voter-registration-mailer-by-leftist-group\/\" title=\"Alabama Secretary of State cautions against deceptive voter registration mailer from leftist organization\">group organizes registration<\/a> of numerous Democratic-leaning voting populations,&rdquo; InfluenceWatch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/voter-participation-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notes<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The VPC has long operated a direct-mail campaign, targeting &ldquo;unmarried women, minorities and millennials,&rdquo; according to InfluenceWatch. With ties to the Clinton Foundation, the Democrat Party, and other leftist groups, the VPC has faced a litany of criticisms, allegations, and charges about unethical, even fraudulent practices.&nbsp; In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/fairfaxcounty\/photos\/a.127254768910\/10158403796583911\/?type=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2020,<\/a> Fairfax County, Virginia, warned voters &ldquo;about an inaccurate and potentially misleading mailing from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/center-for-voter-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Center for Voter Information<\/a>,&rdquo;&nbsp;the VPC&rsquo;s sister nonprofit.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This group is <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">mass mailing pre-filled<\/a>, absentee ballot applications to county voters without their request &mdash; and the mailer includes return envelopes to send the application to the City of Fairfax, not Fairfax County,&rdquo; the county <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairfaxtimes.com\/articles\/fairfax-county-warns-voters-about-inaccurate-misleading-mailing\/article_2dd51a3e-d808-11ea-81cf-97f6f5a26745.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">warned<\/a> residents.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In March, the Alabama Secretary of State <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/26\/alabama-secretary-of-state-warns-of-misleading-voter-registration-mailer-by-leftist-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advised<\/a> residents of a &ldquo;misleading, unsolicited mass mailing of pre-filled voter registration forms targeting Alabama mailboxes.&rdquo; The mass mailings were the products of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/voter-participation-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VPC<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/center-for-voter-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CVI<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;They Don&rsquo;t Stop&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>The VPC&rsquo;s threatening mailers this election cycle are popping up around the country. I received a &ldquo;Voting Report Card&rdquo; at my home in Iowa. My colleague Logan Washburn <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/01\/leftist-group-threatens-michigan-voters-we-will-be-reviewing-your-voting-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found<\/a> one of the VPC&rsquo;s threatening missives in his mailbox.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>States have pretty straightforward laws on intimidation. While Maryland law allows a requester to receive a copy of the voter registration list, including voters&rsquo; election participation history, <a href=\"https:\/\/mgaleg.maryland.gov\/mgawebsite\/Laws\/StatuteText?article=gel&amp;section=16-201&amp;enactments=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statutes<\/a> prohibit conduct aimed at influencing or attempting to influence a voter&rsquo;s decision &mdash; &ldquo;whether to go to the polls to cast a vote, or vote by other lawful means, &lsquo;through the use of force, fraud, threat, menace, intimidation, bribery, reward, or offer of reward,&rsquo;&rdquo; Brown wrote in his press release.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Brown said that Marylanders have &ldquo;uniformly described feeling intimidated, threatened, shocked, and ill-at-ease by this mailing, as the letter suggests that there will be follow-up after the election. This threat to publicly expose the recipient&rsquo;s voting record violates both Maryland and federal laws.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Brown gave the VPC until the end of the business day on Friday to affirm receipt of and compliance with the letter, warning that the leftist organization could face fines and officials could face imprisonment for continuing to violate state and federal law.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Thayer doesn&rsquo;t expect the VPC and other leftist voter activist groups to change their tactics anytime soon.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Those tactics work. They&rsquo;ve been using them since 2008,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been controversial the entire time they&rsquo;ve done it. They&rsquo;ve been asked to stop by secretaries of state, by left-wing journalists. They don&rsquo;t stop though.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electionbriefing.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leftist groups are resorting to intimidation tactics before the election<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2362988,"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\/11\/Screenshot-2024-11-01-at-4.24.29-PM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[34541,34710,40146,4855,33358],"class_list":["post-2362986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-election-strategy","tag-leftist-groups","tag-political-activism","tag-threats","tag-voter-turnout"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2024-11-01-at-4.24.29-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362986","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\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2362986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2362986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2362988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2362986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2362986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2362986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}