House Republicans are accusing a voter information group associated with Democrats of spreading misinformation in the closing days of the election.
The Center for Voter Information is sending mailers painting Republicans in competitive districts in a negative light compared to their Democratic counterparts.
The organization claims to be “nonpartisan” but spent at least $575,000 supporting Democrats in the 2020 election cycle and has spent funds opposing Republicans in the past, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) spoke with the Washington Examiner to detail the efforts of the group, whose mailers showed up in her district on Saturday. Luna’s district features a mailer from CVI that details “election information” for voters in the district.
In the mailer, CVI said Luna’s Democratic opponent, Whitney Fox, supports keeping manufacturing in America, defending America from cyberterrorism and small business programs. The mailer said Luna doesn’t back any of those things, placing an X next to her name.
Massive coordinated voter suppression effort happening right now. Left wing super pac dropping mail from CVI to suppress Republican turnout. Watch video. It’s happening PA, FL, MI, and many other states. Get the word out.
VOTE EARLY AND IN PERSON! pic.twitter.com/lOeL8m6A55
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) October 29, 2024
“It was brought to our attention by our Republican voters, and they said, we got this mailer, and it looks like a voting recommendation card, but when we google the organization, it’s tied to a left-wing dark money super PAC,” Luna said in an interview. “They had actually dropped these mailers on every Republican voter in the district in an effort to confuse Republican voters and switch policy positions.”
Luna has decried what she calls a “massive voter suppression” effort against Republican voters that’s been intentionally timed to be close to the election so the GOP can’t send cease-and-desist letters, she said.
“They’re dumping them at the last second, and they all started hitting at the same time,” she said. “And these are not just like one or two. I mean, they’re hitting all Republican voters, even the low-propensity Republican voters. Sometimes people are getting up to four per household.”
Luna said the organization is making mailers appear like legitimate government election information by sending them from state capitals such as Albany, New York, and Tallahassee, Florida. “They’re intentionally trying to mislead voters prior to Election Day, which is obviously something that, unfortunately, lying happens in politics,” she said. “However, what they’re doing is they’re trying to make this look like it’s a legitimate government survey.”
Several House Republicans from swing districts across the United States have reported seeing similar mailers in their districts. Each one the Washington Examiner reviewed showed a similar pattern: checkmarks next to a Democrat regarding a policy position, and X’s next to Republicans.
Another example comes from Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s (R-OR) district, a swing district in 2024. The mailer showed similar headlines as Luna’s but included “checks on gun purchases.” Each prompt suggests the Republican candidate isn’t supportive of named goals before citing a single source for each prompt.
The mailer says “A candidate’s position is sometimes more complicated than a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
“We have done our best to represent each candidate in a fair and reasonable way,” the mailers add before directing voters to each candidate’s website.
A mailer from the Center for Voter Information addressed to a person in Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer's district: pic.twitter.com/I3RWe4uDlL
— Ross O'Keefe (@RossOKeefe2) October 29, 2024
Two other House Republicans shifted some blame on to their respective Democratic opponents in their competitive House races.
“Josh Riley can’t fairly win Republicans with his open border record so his dark money allies are targeting them to suppress the vote,” Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY) told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
Molinaro’s campaign also shared a similar mailer.
Josh Riley’s open border plan kills Americans and their jobs. pic.twitter.com/Y0YA5GIjqQ
— Marc Molinaro #NY19
(@marcmolinaro) October 27, 2024
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) called out his Democratic opponent, Rebecca Cooke, to condemn the effort.
“After Democrats lied about Rebecca Cooke’s background, her record on supporting Defund the Police candidates, and other policy initiatives that will hurt Wisconsin families, they are sinking even lower by lying about my record to dissuade Wisconsinites from heading to the polls,” Van Orden told the Washington Examiner. “It’s why I am calling on Cooke to condemn the efforts by Center for Voting Information. We can disagree on policy and she’s more than welcome to address on the debate stage – which she refuses to do, but intentionally supporting voter suppression efforts is beyond the pale.”
There is no evidence the Democratic candidates are aligned with CVI, even with the group sharing mailers that show them in a positive light.
However, the House Republican campaign arm is also condemning the mailers and blaming Democrats for “pulling every dirty trick” to “subvert democracy.”
“Democrats are pulling every dirty trick in the book to subvert democracy as President Trump and House Republicans surge in the polls,” Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Their far-left liberal policies decimated Americans’ quality of life and led to a historic border crisis, but instead of owning up to their failures, Hakeem Jeffries and his backers are spreading egregious lies about Republicans. These gutter politics should be condemned immediately.”
CVI responded to the NRCC in a statement to the Washington Examiner, denying that the organization is spreading misinformation, but not explicitly denying that it is partisan.
“For two decades, the Center for Voter Information has operated as a non-profit organization providing resources and tools to help voting-eligible American citizens register and vote in upcoming elections,” Tom Lopach, CVI president and CEO, said. “The mailers that CVI has been sending out are full of factual information about candidates’ positions, backed up by citations and reliable source information. Any characterizations to the contrary are inaccurate.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Luna, Molinaro, Chavez-DeRemer, and Van Orden are all considered to be running in competitive districts, according to the Cook Political Report.
Election Day is seven days away.
