Voter Information Center Sends ‘Vague Threat’ Letters Ahead of Election

By now, you’ve probably accumulated a stack of colorful political pamphlets detailing reasons to vote for a particular candidate or issue.

There is also a small, sterile white form marked with the sign of a benevolent non-profit organization. Voter Information Center. Tear the perforated edges and you will find that some recipients called online “vaguely threatening” message in bold: “Remember who you vote for is private, but whether you voted or not is a public record.”

The letters also include your name, address and voting history since 2016. Presumably, information about your neighbors is also listed below, although their names and street numbers have been redacted. A sister organization called the Voter Participation Center sent similar letters.

The letters are pouring in as more than a million Marylanders vote through early in-person voting and by mail. Voters in at least Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore and Montgomery counties reported receiving the letters.

If you haven’t voted yet, the organization’s board chair, Gail L. Kitch, who signed the letter, says his group is watching.

“We will review these records after the election to determine whether you joined your neighbors in voting,” the letter said.

Should you be worried? Here’s what you need to know.

What is the Voter Information Center/Voter Participation Center?

The Washington-based groups, founded in 2003, use mailers and other marketing tools to boost voter turnout, said Tom Lopach, president and CEO of the Center for Voter Information and the Center for Voter Participation. Since then, the groups have helped more than six million people register and vote, he said.

The groups are also nonpartisan, according to their websites, but Lopach and founder Paige Gardner had ties to the Democratic Party through former positions as Democratic strategists. The organizations also contributed more than $47,000 to promote President Joe Biden’s 2020 bid. ProPublica reports.

During the last presidential election season, the groups were criticized for sowing voter confusion through misspelled letters. Around the same time, CVI sent out 2.25 million absentee ballot applications to Virginia voters, and about a quarter of them had a return envelope labeled wrong election headquarters, the group previously told The Washington Post. This raised concerns among voters who thought they were victims of election fraud.

Why do these organizations send letters?

Recent polling data shows the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is neck-and-neck, with many voting rights groups trying to squeeze out the remaining votes.

The letters are part of the groups’ efforts to increase voting participation, Lopach said. He’s especially concerned about the millions of eligible but unregistered voters who come through every election season and hopes these letters will help close that gap.

The VPC sent mailers to single women, people of color, and youth, while the CVI reached the rest of the population. So far this election season, the two groups have sent out 113 million get-out-the-vote letters, Lopach said. In Maryland, groups sent a total of 3.5 million letters to residents. Lopach said they are not targeting voters of any particular political party.

“It’s guilt,” said Andrew Perrin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University. “But honestly, if you find it What threatening that someone might reveal that you didn’t vote, well, maybe you should just vote.”

How do groups like this get your voting history?

Anyone can send application buy a list of registered Maryland voters for just $125. This list and online voter search tool show your voting history. These resources also reveal your name, address, date of birth, gender and party affiliation. They do not display your voting decisions or other sensitive information.

This information cannot be used for purposes unrelated to the election process, according to the law. Website of the State Election Commission.

What do these groups plan to do with your information?

Lopach said people who don’t vote before Election Day will become frustrated with the system that generates voter turnout rates. “And for us, that means you’ll probably get more mail.” The groups sent four to seven mailers to particularly stubborn people before they finally voted, he said.

Lopach also said they do not plan to send detailed voting information to friends, neighbors or family members of non-voters after Election Day.

Are these email programs illegal?

People online have been put off by the letters and say they find them creepy. According to the US Department of Justice, intimidation or coercion at any stage of the voting process is illegal.

Late Thursday, state Attorney General Anthony J. Brown sent a cease-and-desist letter to the nonprofits, saying the companies’ “(threats to publicly expose voters who do not vote” violate state and federal laws). The nonprofits’ actions, Brown wrote, were intimidation tactics designed to influence voting choices and practices.

Brown ordered the groups to respond with a statement of intent to stop sending these emails by 5 p.m. Friday or face legal action.

Perrin, however, says the letters are not coercive or intimidating. “The threat to take public information and repackage it a little bit doesn’t strike me as really problematic or any kind of threat.”

“I understand that some people may be put off by these letters,” Lopach said. “All I would say is that they should get out and vote, make sure their voices are heard, and just recycle the letters.”

Is this strategy effective?

Over the past decades, CVI and VPC have used a variety of marketing campaigns, including calls and other mailings about voting deadlines. However, organizations have found that letters with stronger — even abusive — language do a better job of persuading voters, Lopach said.

That’s because shame is a good way to encourage someone to vote, Perrin said.

“It’s already established that if you think your neighbors will vote, you’re more likely to do it yourself,” he said. “This mild shaming technique can be effective in reminding people that their neighbors, co-workers and friends vote, and that they will otherwise remain on the sidelines.”