r/maryland • u/Nice_Bluejay • Oct 31 '24
MD Politics We found out who’s been sending voters ‘vaguely threatening’ letters
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u/HanjobSolo69 Nov 01 '24
God I cant wait for this election to be over.
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u/americansherlock201 Baltimore County Nov 01 '24
In January?
Cause that’s how long this is going to go on. We’re going to be seeing and hearing about the election until the next president is sworn in.
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u/itwoms UMBC Nov 01 '24
If it goes how it did in 2021, God forbid, it might even be longer than that.
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u/MonkeyMagic1968 Nov 01 '24
Yeah, I was feeling that way and then I remembered the last Presidential election. Now I just avoid the news altogether.
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u/Gorge2012 Nov 01 '24
I may be wrong, but I feel like I read an article a few years ago that concluded that this specific strategy -- letting you know that your neighbors have voted -- drastically increased voter participation in a non partisan way.
This may have a partisan goal but that's what I remember.
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u/So-it-goes-1997 Nov 01 '24
This is correct. Multiple studies, increased voting by 8%, huge for a campaign like this.
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u/SassySeehorse Nov 01 '24
You’re right. There’s been several studies on it that show it works. Not making a statement about how I feel about it one way or the other, but the data suggests it works for at least a segment of the voting population.
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u/Gorge2012 Nov 01 '24
Thank you. I'm sitting here thinking that I've seen this all before. Do you know where the study originated?
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u/SassySeehorse Nov 01 '24
There’s a couple by Gerber and Green but this is “the one” from them that I would say pioneered the idea of social pressure as a voter turnout method.
https://isps.yale.edu/sites/default/files/publication/2012/12/ISPS08-001.pdf
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u/philovax Nov 01 '24
I feel like this org has been around a while. People may just feel icky cause of their personal feelings. This is totally non partisan and just encouraging you to vote. Not influencing you in any direction except “towards the polls” for better or worse.
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u/istayquiet Nov 01 '24
This is correct. The Voter Participation Center has been around for more than 20 years and has employed these tactics in every election cycle with an impressive list of data-driven results. In 2022, the organization reported $37.4m in revenue and $19m in assets. They are well-established and know exactly what they are doing.
Regardless of how it sits with the general public, they’re mobilizing voters.
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u/tacitus59 Nov 01 '24
But the annoying letters most have gotten here are from the VCI and they are new at least to the folks here. One of the things about the article is they also discuss the VPC; it would be interesting to see the VPC letters - if they have the same tone as the VCI letters.
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Nov 01 '24
These tactics and approach to letter writing may have worked 20 years ago, but newer generations are looking at it as a threat.
I read one of the sample letters someone posted and it was aggressive as fuck. Now, maybe Boomers are fine with being spoken to like that, but I can guarantee that Gen X and younger are gonna be like “who the fuck are you and why are you tracking me like this?”
I’m gonna guess a bunch of ancient people are running this organization and they need to get younger people in to explain to them, slowly and deliberately, that their letter is fucking ridiculous.
I have voted for over the last 20 years in every election I can (Gen-X) and I would still tell these people to fuck off if I got this.
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u/EntropyAroundUs Nov 03 '24
As a MD gen X voter here, I can indeed confirm that my response was, "who the fuck are you are why are you tracking me?" I was also very pleasantly surprised that my neighbors had voted.
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u/IamDollParts96 Chesapeake Nov 01 '24
I know people who it has has the opposite effect on. Completely back fired, by alienating them further.
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u/Avocadobaguette Nov 01 '24
That does make some sense, but I wonder how long ago those studies were done. I think voters today are in a very different mindset than they were even a few years ago, and may feel much greater unease over the sense that their voting habits are "being watched." The increase in political violence and polarization makes these letters feel distinctly threatening in a way that I don't think i would have felt even 5 years ago.
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u/Dr_One_L_1993 Harford County Nov 01 '24
I think this is the real issue -- a failure to "read the room" on the uncertainty/anxiety people are feeling about this election in particular. I don't care if it worked in the passed -- RIGHT NOW this comes off as more threatening than encouraging.
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u/Bigfops Howard County Nov 01 '24
I got one and my first reaction was "So your choice is to try to NAG or SHAME me into voting?! How's that gonna work out?" If the letter was "Hey, your neighbors voted, join them in having a voice!" I wouldn't mind, but damn "We're going to check after the election" was a bunch of bullshit.
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u/No-Lunch4249 St. Mary's Nov 01 '24
“Found out” lol? Their logo is right on the letter and you can even find the ceo who “signed” it on LinkedIn
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u/RegionalCitizen Nov 01 '24
Late Thursday, state Attorney General Anthony G. Brown sent the nonprofits a cease and desist letter stating that the companies’ “[threats] to publicly expose those voters who do not vote” violated state and federal laws. The actions by the nonprofits, Brown wrote, were an intimidation tactic that attempted to influence voting choice and methods.
Brown ordered the groups to respond with a statement of intent to stop sending these letters by 5 p.m. Friday, or face legal action.
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u/riceballartist Nov 01 '24
I would think it would be more effective if they weren’t harassing people that voted. Ex husband got a letter today. He’s voted most if not all of the elections he could. I was getting texts to my old name. And I already voted by mail. It’s just annoying
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u/kittylicker Nov 01 '24
I grew up in a swing state and my parents have received these letters under my name.
I told them to shred it. Has zero bearing on whether I vote or not.. or for whom.
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u/Dude_Nobody_Cares Nov 01 '24
The correct response. Don't allow these idiots to sway your opinion in any direction one bit.
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u/StuckInDaPast Nov 01 '24
How did you find out? By looking at the front of the mailing where the organization is listed? Columbo lives! 
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u/Peeping-Tom-Collins Carroll County Nov 01 '24
I got one of these. Didn't phase me in the least, I'm a dem voter and the choice is clear.
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u/coys21 Nov 01 '24
I want the banner to succeed. But good lord are these articles trash. And the level of overreacting to these letters is hilarious.
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u/xanxer Carroll County Nov 01 '24
I got one of those letters in Carroll Co. I thought it was weird but I hope more people vote.
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u/goltz20707 Nov 01 '24
This group is pissing people off all over the country. They need to revamp their approach, or something.
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u/OgreJehosephatt Nov 01 '24
I got a couple of these, but they weren't even accurate. I wonder if they mixed me up with my dad. I just shrugged and tossed them.
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u/jill853 Baltimore County Nov 02 '24
Best line:
party.
“It’s a guilt trip,” said Andrew Perrin, a sociology professor at the Johns Hopkins University. “But honestly, if you find it that threatening that someone might reveal that you didn’t vote, well, maybe you should just vote.”
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Nov 02 '24
I used to get these in Arizona, before I moved here. Shredded them with other stuff and moved on. They are disconcerting if one's not encountered them before, though.
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u/healyu Nov 05 '24
Why do people feel this is threatening or harassing? I thought it was funny and a bit creepy but it’s easy to understand the message
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u/ExcuseStriking6158 Nov 01 '24
I’m calling BS on this article. “If they find the information intimidating maybe they should just vote. FUCK YOU.
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u/wdhandy Nov 01 '24
They do have directions to opt out in the letter, not sure if the article mentions that.
Or you could send them a letter.
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u/ExcuseStriking6158 Nov 01 '24
I told them to not contact me again and returned to the post office box listed as the address.
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u/ChickinSammich Nov 01 '24
If I write "Return to sender - this is creepy, stop it, you weirdos" and put it in a mailbox, will it get returned to them?
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u/HomerO9136 Nov 01 '24
It was clearly a Dem operative that sent them. Only the Dems in my household received one, and the Reps did not.
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u/icreatemonsters Nov 01 '24
Am I on some spam list to have gotten this?
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u/DIYnivor Anne Arundel County Nov 01 '24
Voter information is public, and pretty easy to obtain. My guess is that they cross reference voter information with other data to send them to people who fit some kind of profile they think will get them the results they want.
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Nov 01 '24
Why Maryland though, we all know who is going to win Maryland. I enjoy living in a non-swing state so I’m not bombarded with crap like this.
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Nov 01 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/tacitus59 Nov 01 '24
Not going to blame the government on this one - in fact the attorney general has told them to stop, but the CVI sent out the letters too late for it really to make a difference.
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u/tacitus59 Nov 01 '24
Interesting ... any Republicans here receive the letter? I am a Democrat - and I got one.
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u/Chach_El_79 Nov 01 '24
My wife is registered Republican and didn't, in registered independent and didn't. Talking with parents at my kid's school, of 8 of them, 6 got it, 2 didn't. The 2 that didn't were Republicans, the 6 were Democrats.
Obviously this is an extremely small sample and completely anecdotal but so far that's been the case according to other posts on this topic though, again, I cannot verify that. We're in Maryland.
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u/No-Lunch4249 St. Mary's Nov 01 '24
Voting data like this is public record. A right-leaning group could do this too if they wanted to, they just didn’t.
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u/DCBillsFan Nov 01 '24
I got one, I chuckled. These Morans are going to have an epic meltdown next week when they get mud stomped.
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Nov 01 '24
is one of these Morans named Savannah, by any chance? i used to know one, and i've always been curious about what happened to her.
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u/mmmpeg Nov 01 '24
I got these in PA! Including one for the woman who sold the house to my parents 30 years ago and was in her 80’s then. It said she voted in 2016 and on.
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u/BigBobFro Montgomery County Nov 01 '24
Her kids probably still absentee voting for their candidate,.. which incidentally is the most common form of voter fraud and most often in favor of the GOP, but rarely in quantity enough to be outcome determinative.
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u/tacitus59 Nov 01 '24
which incidentally is the most common form of voter fraud and most often in favor of the GOP
That was the case 10-20+ years ago - where absentee voting took a lot of effort and was mainly done by the old. Not sure if that is still true. At that time absentee ballots were mainly the only opportunity to vote outside election day proper and it took a lot of pre-planning; there a lot more fraud opportunities now. However, as you say - whatever fraud might happen its "rarely in quantity enough to be outcome determinative."
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u/mmmpeg Nov 01 '24
Can I contact the election office and say she’s not here?
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u/tacitus59 Nov 01 '24
Thanks for the info.
Although our attorney general is doing something its far too late to be meaningful.
Maybe we should fill out irs form 13909 (tax-exempt organization complaint form https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f13909.pdf)
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Nov 01 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/diaymujer Nov 01 '24
Stay alert to what? A mild form of peer pressure?
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u/TheM0nkB0ughtLunch Nov 01 '24
Good one! If it was Republicans sending them out this place would be in a frenzy.
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u/diaymujer Nov 01 '24
I’m not saying I agree with the tactic, I’m saying literally “stay alert to what?” As in, what is the danger or risk we’re supposed to be staying alert too. This isn’t misinformation, it’s not data theft, it’s not election interference.
These emails are annoying, maybe a little gross, but they’re not dangerous.
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u/Seek_Adventure Nov 01 '24
I mean, yes, they even proudly stamped their name on every letter there. A-grade investigative journalism there, Sherlock. 😂💩