Both the New York State and Connecticut Democratic Committees are threatening people into voting on Tuesday by sending bullying letters that claim they can easily determine which potential voters failed to cast ballots.
The New York Post confirms tweets sent out by New York voters with photos of the threatening letters.
“Who you vote for is your secret,” the letter reads. “But whether or not you vote is public record.”
“We will be reviewing voting records… to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014,” it continues. “If you do not vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.”
Brooklyn musician Jonathan Coulton tweeted out that he was “threatened:”
I think the Democrats just threatened me: pic.twitter.com/wGvYInosk5
— Jonathan Coulton (@jonathancoulton) October 30, 2014
@madfilkentist “Paid for by the NY State Democratic Commitee”
— Jonathan Coulton (@jonathancoulton) October 31, 2014
In Connecticut, public radio reporter and children’s book author Jeff Cohen wondered if the “creepy mailer” was related to Halloween:
Hey, @CTDems. We just got your creepy mailer. Is it ominous bc it’s Halloween? Boo? pic.twitter.com/s1v9W3in4y
— Jeff Cohen (@jeffcohenwnpr) October 30, 2014
@realsaramerica @dereklane09 this isn’t urging a vote. It’s just super creepy. pic.twitter.com/IOv3KnLuql
— Jeff Cohen (@jeffcohenwnpr) October 31, 2014
Amy Bergquist, also of Connecticut, wondered why Democrats would send a threatening message to their base:
@realhartford @jeffcohenwnpr Can’t figure out why we did. We vote 100% of the time, it was Democrat flyer. Why threatening msg to your base?
— AmyBergquist (@AmyBergquist) October 31, 2014
Sarah Littman was also offended by the Democrat mailer:
Reason I’m “U”RT @colinmcenroe: I’m a registered Connecticut Democrat and, at the moment, rather ashamed of that. http://t.co/IVYLywk4xV
— Sarah Littman (@realsaramerica) October 31, 2014
Public radio host Colin McEnroe wrote in his Hartford Courant column Thursday: “Just when you thought this campaign season couldn’t sink any lower or become any more repulsive, the Connecticut Democrats have found a new crack they can slither down into.”
“The tone of the mailings is chilling, like something you’d get from Stasi in East Berlin in 1967,” McEnroe wrote. “‘Who you vote for is private, but whether or not you vote is public record,’ it says.”
“And then: ‘We will be reviewing these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbor in voting.’ Oh you will, will you?” he asked.
McEnroe reported that two of the “undeniably menacing communications” are from Democrat state central, with a third coming from “Democratic-leaning” America Votes.
“It’s nearly identical to the others,” McEnroe noted about the third mailer. “But here is the darkly hilarious difference: this mailer is addressed to one person but then contains the voting record of a different man named Irving, who lives several blocks away (I looked him up). So we know which elections Irving voted in.”
“The higher-ups who signed off on this should come forward and resign immediately,” he asserted.
In New York, the Post reported Brooklyn and Manhattan residents were “furious” upon receipt of their threats.
“I’m outraged,” said one Manhattan voter who said she complained to a Democrat leader. “Whether I vote or not is none of your business!”
This voter said she received a “report card” of her voting record, observing that she had not voted in two of the last four elections.
The bullying letters, said the Post, were sent out to one million registered Democrats who had failed to vote in prior midterm elections.
The New York State Democratic Committee, chaired by former Gov. David Paterson, defended the threatening letters and referred to them as standard practice throughout the country.
“This flier is part of the nationwide Democratic response to traditional Republican voter-suppression efforts, because Democrats believe our democracy works better when more people vote, not less,” said Peter Kauffmann, a committee spokesman. “The difference between Democrats and Republicans is they don’t want people to vote and we want everyone to vote.”
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