Misleading fliers are showing up on the windshields of vehicles at a predominately African-American polling place in Houston that claim to come from a non-existent group called the “Black Democratic Trust of Texas.”
The fliers were placed on the windshields of vehicles at and near the Sunnyside Early Voting location and tell voters not to voter straight Democrat, according to Texas Democrats and local news reports.
“Republicans are trying to trick us!” the flier reads. “When you vote straight ticket Democrat, it is actually voting for Republicans and your vote doesn’t count. We are urging everyone to VOTE for BILL WHITE. A VOTE for BILL WHITE is a VOTE for the ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC ticket. We have fought too hard to let Republicans use voting machines to deny us our basic rights. We must guard the change and NOT VOTE STRAIGHT TICKET DEMOCRAT!”
“YES WE CAN,” the flier reads.
Here is a copy of the flyer sent to TPMMuckraker by the Texas Democratic Party:
The flier includes what appears to be an image of Ann Richards, the deceased former Democratic governor of the state. Outside of news reports about this flier, there is no online record of a group called the “Black Democratic Trust of Texas.”
“These fliers are part of a coordinated effort between the Tea Party and Houston Republicans to intimidate and misinform voters,” Chad W. Dunn, General Counsel for the Texas Democratic Party, told TPMMuckraker.
“Any Republican worthy of serious consideration for election to any office will immediately condemn these tactics and fully cooperate in bringing the wrongdoers to justice,” Dunn said. “The Texas Democratic Party will ultimately discover who was behind this effort and we will ensure they bear the full weight of civil and criminal penalties.”
“This deliberate attempt to misinform voters is the last ditch effort by the Republican Party that trying to win votes from a public that is skeptical of their failed policies in Texas,” Dunn added.
J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director & Director of Litigation at the Campaign Legal Center, has already alerted the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division about the fliers.
“It bothers me they’re coming up with shenanigans, lying to people anonymously. Show your face,” Houston City Council Member Jolanda Jones told Houston’s KTRK.
Watch the video report from Miya Shay of Houston’s KTRK below:
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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