Group accused of destroying Democrats' voter registration cards
By Mary Bruce  Student Life  Washington University St. Louis
Published: Monday, October 18, 2004
A group funded by the Republican National Convention (RNC) is under investigation for allegedly destroying Democratic voter registration cards in several swing states.

Working under the names of legitimate voter registration groups, an organization run by Republican operative Nathan Sproul has been accused of ripping up and discarding registration cards in an attempt to deny Democrats the ability to vote.

Several states began investigating the group's activities last week after receiving allegations from KLAS-TV in Las Vegas that members engaged in voter registration fraud. Evidence links this group to Springfield, Mo., where the RNC posted a job description on careerbuilder.com advertising for employees willing to register voters for Voters Outreach of America, which is one of several names Sproul's groups have used. It is unclear at this time if the group was active in the St. Louis area.

"When we were looking to see if there was any activity in this area by this organization, we found a classified ad in Springfield, Mo., paid for by the RNC," said Sara Howard, communications director for America Coming Together, a Democratic 527 group that has been active in registering voters throughout the country. "It's hard to say [if the group was active in other locations], because the Springfield area is a largely Republican area."

In addition to calling itself Voters Outreach of America, the group may have masqueraded under the name America Votes, which is an umbrella organization for Democratic voter registration groups. Howard called this deception an "intentional ploy" to tamper with the Democratic vote.

According to senior Teresa Sullivan, a representative of the Washington University chapter of Project Democracy, Voters Outreach of America has probably not registered voters on the Hilltop campus.

"As far as I know, I don't believe I ran into that group and I don't believe that anyone ran into them in our efforts," said Sullivan.

According to America Coming Together and America voters, voter fraud is alleged to have taken place in Oregon, Nevada, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Florida.

Although further investigations are underway in Missouri, it may be difficult to apprehend the alleged culprits because the crimes are no longer being actively committed.

"It is really hard to track them down because the voter registration deadline has passed," said Howard.

The organization accused of impersonating the registration groups, the Sproul & Associates Managing and Consulting Firm of Phoenix, Ariz., has reportedly received close to $500,000 in Republican funding, according to published news reports.

Sproul and local representatives of the organization were unavailable for comment by press time.

One concern voiced by America Votes is that Democratic voters who think they have registered to vote may show up at the polls Nov. 2 only to discover that their names are not on the voter rolls.

"The idea that any voter registration card would be destroyed is reprehensible, and the Republican Party should be ashamed for funding such illegal and unethical behavior," said Mike Dolan, Missouri state director of America Votes, in the group's press release. "It's despicable. There may be people out there who believe that they are registered and will be denied their right to vote on Nov. 2."

America Votes is now encouraging people to call and confirm that they are registered to vote.

"We are asking people who think that they were registered with this group to call their voting officials," said Howard.