Front Groups Against Prop 37: Foes of Honest Labeling Pose as Fake Cops and Phony Democrats to Trick Voters by

Tuesday, November 06 2012 @ 05:51 PM EST

Posted in News & Views

Voter guides from obviously fake front groups posing as cops, literacy groups, green groups and Democrats are making a last-ditch attempt to try to sway voters against Proposition 37.

Pamela Prindle from Albany was alarmed when she received a slate mailer over the weekend from a group she thought was the Democratic Party, advising her to vote against the GMO labeling initiative. “I was so upset, I called the Democratic Party and they said their official position is endorsing Proposition 37,” Prindle said.

Then she realized the mailer -- which features photos of Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy -- was from a group called the Democratic Voter’s Choice which has a notorious reputation for deception. “People are going to get this in the mail three days before the election and they’re not going to take the time to check into it like I did,” Prindle said.

“This is just one of many examples of slate mailers from obviously fake front groups trying to trick voters about Proposition 37,” said Dave Murphy, co-chair of the California Right to Know Yes on 37 campaign and executive director of Food Democracy Now!

“Obviously the pesticide and junk food corporations bankrolling the No on 37 campaign know they can’t win on the merits of their arguments, so they are using every dirty trick in the book to confuse voters into voting against their right to know what’s in their food,” Murphy said.

Examples of obviously false front groups taking a position against Prop 37 include:

The Cops Voting Guide opposes Prop 37 with a slick mailer that features photos of badges and sirens, but the group has nothing to do with police officers. According to their website, the director of Cops Voting Guide is Kelley Moran, who has "over 20 years of experience working with public safety." His actual profession is political consultant.

Coalition for Literacy: Why would a literacy group oppose labeling? It's not possible to tell from the group's one-page website. But the tobacco industry used this same front group earlier this year to oppose the tobacco tax, Proposition 27.

Californians Vote Green opposes Prop 37 and if you want to know why, the only thing you can learn from their website is that you should "please direct inquiries to Paul."

Read more about pay-to-play slate mailers and the huge money being made by dubious characters who apparently have some success in convincing voters with their scams, see the San Francisco Sentinel.



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