An overwhelming majority of states are ripe for continued ballot initiative abuse, fraud, and deception unless significant changes are made through legislative action to clean up the system. BISC recently released the 2010 edition of the state-by-state Ballot Measure Report Card detailing most states’ protections against initiative fraud are undermined by a lack of standards, transparency, accountability, oversight and enforcement.
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Initiative reform legislation continues to move through state legislatures across the country this year. In Maine, legislation requiring paid signature gatherers and the entities that pay signature gatherers to be registered with the state passed both chambers and now awaits action from the Governor.
In Ohio, a bill to crack down on initiative fraud passed the House on a bipartisan vote, and awaits further action from the Senate when it returns from recess. The bill is based in large part on the recommendations from BISC’s State by State Report Card.
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Fraud Merchants
Tim Eyman
Tim Eyman is a “professional initiative promoter” in Washington state and has been promoting and profiting from initiatives since the late 1990s, starting his career by helping to pass Ward Connerly’s initiative to outlaw equal opportunity programs.
Fraud Merchants
Mark Jacoby
Mark Jacoby is a professional signature gatherer that owns Young Political Majors (YPM), a petition circulation company that has been accused of wrong-doing in several states. While still in his 20s, Jacoby has already succeeded in being charged with multiple crimes related to election fraud.
Fraud Merchants
Arno Political Consultants
Arno is known as one of the largest and most successful signature gathering firms in the country. Despite their impressive client list and years of experience, Arno is also known for something else: illegalities in their signature gathering practices.
Fraud Merchants
Tim Mooney
Tim Mooney is a former partner of ARNO Consulting, which has been accused of ballot fraud in multiple states. Mooney is the national coordinator for Save Our Secret (SOS) Ballot and has been specifically cited as in charge of their signature gathering efforts.
Fraud Merchants
Bill Sizemore
One can't talk about the Oregon initiative system without mentioning "racketeer" Bill Sizemore. This particular initiative fraudster makes his living off of direct democracy and since the 1990's, Sizemore and his anti-government, anti-union allies have dominated Oregon's initiative system.
Sizemore's record of pushing policy gimmicks to starve state priorities is outdone only by the "$2.5 million racketeering judgment" against him.
Fraud Merchants
National Ballot Access
Reports from a number of states indicate that Ward Connerly's paid signature gatherer, Edee Baggett, is up to her old tricks. In a manner eerily similar to what was witnessed in Michigan during the 2006 cycle, complaints are already being filed alleging that voters have been tricked by National Ballot Access into signing Connerly's so-called "civil rights initiative."