Election-reform group says signature gatherers use deception (Florida)

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Jul. 22, 2004

Election-reform group says signature gatherers use deception
Associated Press


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - People gathering signatures to put citizen initiatives on the November ballot are using deceptive practices, such as asking voters to sign more than once, according to an election-reform group working to change the petition process.

VoteSmartFlorida, a business-backed group, said people paid to collect signatures also told voters who opposed the initiatives to sign the petitions so they could get the issues on the ballot and vote against them.

"We have discovered that certain paid gatherers will do or say almost anything in order to obtain signatures," said Mark Wilson, a VoteSmartFlorida spokesman and vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

Because gatherers can earn between 50 cents and $10 per signature, and few regulations guide the process, "deceptive practices are rampant," Wilson said.
VoteSmartFlorida used hidden cameras to record gatherers in store parking lots, and interviewed both gatherers and voters who signed petitions.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/9214937.htm?ERIGHTS=2677102173324834329miami:&KRD_RM=3mkmlmmlnkjppmjjjjjjjjjsko|
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Reminiscent of California's casual petition signature gathering, and Grey Davis.......

[1monster]

1. Recently, I told one of those signature collectors that the only petition

to amend the Florida Constitution that I would sign would be one that gave the people the right to put issues on the ballot that would become law without amending the Constitution. In order to keep the State Legislature from immediately overturning such a people-driven law, the State Legislature would have to overturn it by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature...

The signature gatherer said... "You know, I never thought of something like that! It might work."

And it would keep them in business gathering signatures, too, I guess, to get an issue on the ballot for voting.