On Scott Presler, noted below, https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/pennsylvania-republicans-are-working-stop-steal-and-qanon-conspiracy , https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna144144 .
“Petition drives for Cornel West <https://apnews.com/article/cornel-west-president-2024-91da153454bcbffdec069727a92b9cf9> in Virginia and North Carolina are being run by groups with Republican ties. And in Arizona, a convicted fraudster who’s been repeatedly investigated for using deceptive tactics to gather signatures for conservative groups is also working on West’s behalf… In April, The Washington Post reported pro-Trump activist Scott Presler was gathering signatures for West outside a Trump rally in North Carolina. In a video posted online, Presler described West, an academic, as a “far-left Marxist” who “if we get him on the ballot he could take a percentage point away” from Biden. But Republican involvement in getting West and his Justice For All party on the state ballot runs far deeper. At the beginning of June, West had been largely absent from the campaign trail and his political operation was $30,000 in debt, disclosures show. He had spent just $2,400 this year to gather the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot in states across the U.S. But then, Justice For All submitted well over the roughly 13,800 signatures needed. State government emails obtained by The Associated Press show current and former employees of Blitz Canvassing, a Republican firm that earned millions of dollars doing work for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, helped West pull off the feat. The emails, previously reported by NBC News, show the employees affiliated with Blitz Canvassing were the designated representatives to pick up and drop off petitions for West’s campaign. It’s unclear who paid the firm, which isn’t listed as a paid vendor in West’s campaign finance reports. Representatives for Blitz Canvassing didn’t respond to requests for comment. The GOP-linked signature collection effort on West’s behalf isn’t limited to North Carolina. Signature gatherers in suburban Washington were witnessed asking people in a Target parking lot to sign a petition to “get Donald Trump off the ballot,” NBC4 reported. The signatures were actually being collected to help get West on the Virginia ballot, and one of the workers said they would be handed off to the state GOP, the TV station reported. Last month, more than 80 paid out-of-state signature gatherers descended on the pivotal battleground of Arizona to collect signatures for West, state records show. Many of the workers listed Wells Marketing, a mysterious Missouri limited liability company, as their employer. The company, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, is closely affiliated with Mark Jacoby, a signature gathering operative from California with a longstanding reputation for using deceptive tactics and who was convicted in 2009 of voter registration fraud, court records show. In 2020, Jacoby worked to gather signatures to place the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, on the ballot. Ye’s quixotic presidential campaign was widely viewed by Democrats as an effort to dilute Biden’s popularity with Black voters. Jacoby’s firm, Let the Voters Decide, was investigated for using dubious signature gathering tactics during a 2020 petition drive in Michigan that sought to roll back some of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers during the coronavirus pandemic. No charges came of the investigation, though, in a report, state Attorney General Dana Nessel said investigators “found evidence of sleazy practices and shady activity.” For Jacoby, it was nothing new. He was accused in 2008 of tricking voters into registering with the California Republican Party by telling them they were signing an initiative to strengthen penalties for child molesters, the Los Angeles Times reported. In 2006, signature gatherers told Massachusetts lawmakers that Jacoby instructed them to use deceptive tactics, like asking people to sign a petition to allow for the sale of wine in grocery stores. They were actually gathering signatures to roll back the state’s historic gay marriage court ruling, the workers testified during a hearing. Jacoby did not respond to a request for comment. Legal experts say West’s reliance on an army of paid signature gatherers financed by an outside party could cause him legal trouble because it could be viewed as an in-kind contribution to his campaign. “The short answer is, yes, there is a potential issue,” said Adav Noti, a former Federal Election Commission attorney who’s now executive director of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington. Noti added, however, that it’s “complicated” and the success of any campaign finance complaint would heavily depend on specifics because “the law on this issue is really messy.” https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-west-third-party-2024-election-10c4c166ad4d41cab73660c33a69a58a -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31170): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31170 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107258733/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
