Petition Fraud by Massachusetts Bigots

Over at Tapped, Tim O'Brien has a horrifying story about signing a petition to allow supermarkets to sell alcohol, being asked to sign a 'backup copy', then discovering his name on the petition to amend the Massachusetts constitution to outlaw gay marriage. They seem to have been doing quite a bit of this sort of thing, judging from articles like this one:

The signature collector asked her to sign a petition regarding an amendment to allow grocery stores to sell wine, Aveyard said.

She was surprised to learn her name turned up on the Vote on Marriage list.

"I don't remember the exact conversation," she said. "I don't think grabbing someone while their arms are full of groceries is a good way to get support for something, because they're probably in a hurry. It bothers me because that does not reflect my opinion at all."

There isn't a lot in the major media yet, but reports like this one (in the Fitchburg Sentinel, and good for them for reporting it) have started filtering up.

MassEquality, the main organization supporting gay marriage in Massachusetts, is on this and has a database visitors can search to see if they are listed as signers. KnowThyNeighbor.org also has the database of signers, and provides an affidavit form for people who discover they have signed unintentionally. It's unlikely there are enough fraudulent signatures to disqualify the initiative (it needed 66,000 to qualify, and got 123,000), but they can make sure the proponents' sleazy tactics come back to bite them.

The firm hired to gather signatures was Arno Political Consultants, a California firm that Schwarzenegger used for his initiatives; they have a history of sleaze, including switching the party of registrants and getting signatures of dead people.

But when you're doing the Lord's work, anything is justified, no matter how sleazy, if it advances the end. That's the problem with people who think they're doing the Lord's work.

[That's all, folks]