Why Nebraskans United want to keep blocker names secret
Following an investigation by the American Civil Rights Coalition, it appears that opponents of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative engaged in a 'systematic, deceptive effort' to sabotage the petition process.
During the Arizona signature gathering effort – especially during the month of June, the last month of signature collection – rumors were confirmed that the group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) engaged in election fraud. BAMN perpetuated this fraud by offering to purchase signatures from petition circulators and then BAMN members attempted to submit the signatures that they bought or coerced from circulators to organizers of the signature effort. Knowing that this type of activity occurred, it would not be surprising if rumors were validated that BAMN members were signing petitions with ficticious names and falsely signing circulator affidavits.
Members of the anti-ACRI movement in Arizona were videotaped trying to purchase and/or coerce signatures from collectors.
In Nebraska, of course, Nebraskans United have refused requests from the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission to reveal the names of the persons whom they paid to block petitioners, and it's likely that one reason behind their refusal to comply with Nebraska law is that the individuals being paid were doing more than merely 'blocking'; they were trying to taint the petition-gathering process itself. The same attempts to smear petition collectors are going on here. When are Nebraskans United going to come clean? Will we have to initiate legal action?
