Librarian bares possible voter registration dodge
Company claiming affiliation with the non-partisan ‘America Votes’ group appears to represent the GOP
By MEG LANDERS
Mail Tribune
A local librarian checking on a company’s request to set up a voter registration booth in the library discovered the company was not affiliated with a non-partisan national group as it claimed.
Sproul & Associates, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., phoned and mailed the library in September, saying it had been hired by America Votes.
That came as news to America Votes.
"This organization (Sproul) absolutely has nothing to do with America Votes," said Kevin Looper, the state organizing director for America Votes.
America Votes is a non-partisan political organization formed in July 2003 to increase voter registration, education and participation in electoral politics.
Libraries in Oregon and other states have been contacted by Sproul. Looper said attorneys at America Votes’ Washington, D.C. headquarters have taken over.
"We are in the process of pursuing all of our legal options to pursue (an order to) cease and desist."
But the man behind the matter says it was an innocent mistake.
"We were not trying to copy their name," said Nathan Sproul, owner of the consulting and management company. "All we were trying to do is register people to vote."
In September, the Jackson County Library Services Central Library received a letter from Sproul & Associates, Inc. which began:
"Our firm has been contracted to help coordinate a national non-partisan voter registration drive, America Votes! in several states across the nation."
The letter went on to ask if the company could register people to vote in front of the library.
Meghan O’Flaherty, headquarters library manager, contacted Kevin Looper, who informed her America Votes did not hire the firm.
That’s when she learned that Sproul & Associates, Inc. is a political consulting firm headed up by former Arizona state Republican Party executive director Nathan Sproul.
"The only problem I have with it ... is that they’re misrepresenting themselves as someone they’re not," she said.
Libraries in Multnomah, Corvallis/Benton, West Slope and Washington counties also had been contacted, said O’Flaherty.
She said she learned on the Internet that Sproul & Associates is actually a partisan political consulting firm, so the library cannot support them.
"If they show up, they’re going to have to be out in front of the library and not inside," she said.
The toll-free number which librarians were given connects to an answering machine stating that if the caller is interested in canvassing neighborhoods in support of the GOP, he or she should leave a message with contact information.
Cindy Gibbon, senior library manager with the Multnomah County Library, said voter registration drives inside libraries must be non-partisan, because libraries are publicly funded and cannot appear to take sides with issues or parties.
She said they let Sproul know that, but hadn’t heard back.
"We may see them or we may not," she said.
Sproul said Monday the name selection was an honest mistake.
"You telling me that they even exist was really the first time I’d heard it," said Sproul. He said his company, hired by a number of clients to register voters, came up with what he believed was a generic name. He said he had not heard from the original America Votes.
"If they even just pick up the phone and call ... we would change it in a heartbeat," he said.
Sproul said his company was just trying to get more people registered to vote and were not promoting any issue, candiate or party.
Sue Noel, a temporary employee at Sproul & Associates, said the voter drive is called Project America Votes and she knew about the redundant name.
"What we try to do is tell people we are not affiliated with America Votes," she said. She said the company already has set up registration drives in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Nevada. In addition to libraries, they’ve set up registration drives in front of businesses and grocery stores, she said.
Looper says he’s skeptical about the naming.
"You’ll have to forgive me for not finding it credible that they would not have heard of a group that is one of the largest in the country and is in every one of the 17 swing states and that could hardly be missed in any political circle," he said. "While we appreciate their word that they will cease and desist, we will want to see that in writing."
"I’m glad they’re not going to persist in trying to mislead people," he said.
Rich Rohde of Oregon Action’s Medford office said his office has trained 30 to 40 people who have registered hundreds of residents in Medford. Oregon Action is a partner with the original America Votes.
In addition to canvassing door-to-door, volunteers are setting up booths, such as the one they’ll staff Saturday at the Multicultural Fair at Alba Park in downtown Medford.
Sproul said at this point, given how close the date is to the Oct. 12 registration deadline, he doubted his company would have time to set up in Oregon.
Looper credits Oregon’s county librarians for bringing the issue to light.
"If it wasn’t for their initiative on it, I would not have known about it," he said.
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