Hearst Newspapers in Connecticut reported last week that Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon is paying students “an extra $5 for each Republican registered during a voter registration drive at the University of Connecticut."
Paying to register voters for a political party is not illegal, but the practice has drawn questions, particularly during a highly publicized voter fraud probe of the non-profit group ACORN. "It's a practice that the Justice Department has frowned upon," Av Harris, spokesman for the Secretary of the State's office, which oversees voter registration, said. According to an e-mail circulated this week by Joseph Gasser, chairman of recruitment for the University of Connecticut College Republicans, "Linda McMahon's campaign has offered to pay us to help register voters on campus." "Each student who works will earn $10 (an hour) while working up to 5 hours a day and 4 days total, with a bonus of $5 per Republican registered," Gasser wrote. In recent years, several states including Connecticut, investigated voter fraud involving the ACORN, a nationwide umbrella of low- and moderate-income groups devoted to social justice programs, which pays workers to register new voters. Harris said ACORN's troubles lead the Department of Justice to suggest states tighten their voter drive regulations and scrutinize paid voter recruitment. "They said this is a practice which they frown upon and you may want to look at legislation that may eliminate that," Harris said. "They felt like that opened up the possibility of fraud."
McMahon leads Republican challenger Rob Simmons, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll, by a margin of 44 - 34. The primary election will be held on August 10. A number of