Mailers sent from the Ted Cruz Presidential campaign to Iowa Republicans are causing immense controversy for the Texas Senator and White House hopeful, threatening Iowans by saying they will send notices to their neighbors if they don’t vote.
In what has been dubbed “voting violations” by the Cruz campaign, the mailers show a voter their “voter score,” which is comprised by how many times they have voted before. It also shows the scores of neighbors.
This is sure to be yet another win for Donald Trump and also likely helps Marco Rubio as well.
Part of the mailer says:
“You are receiving this election notice because of low expected voter turnout in your area. Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors’ are public record. Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well. A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday’s caucuses.”
The whole thing has a very creepy NSA vibe to it…
According to IJ Review:
“The reaction on Twitter was swift, and largely negative. Many viewed the mailer as a privacy violation. As the mailer notes, the information on it was pulled from public records, and that is legal, but printing the names and voter records like that, along with the implication that the neighbors are seeing the same information, is unsettling to some. The Iowa Supervisor of Elections does not actually assign voter grades like this mailer implies.
“These kind of mailers are fraught with risk,” said Republican media strategist Rick Wilson, who has done some work for a Rubio Super PAC. “They do work, but the social pressure stuff has got to be subtle. This, on the other hand, is like a sledgehammer.”
Similar mailers were sent out during the 2012 race to encourage people to vote for Barack Obama, and were also met with condemnation.”
