Bain Capital May Have Ties to Voter Fraud Billboards

http://politics.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981712138

Bain Capital may have ties to billboards warning of voter fraud in two swing states. Mitt Romney founded the investment firm which has ties to Clear Channel Outdoor, the company that allowed the controversial billboards in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. An anonymous benefactor paid for the billboards, which state voter fraud is a felony that could result in jail time.

NPR reports the billboards go against Clear Channel's advertising policy that disallows "anonymous" donors. Voter advocacy groups voices concerns the signs will discourage minorities from voting. Most of the billboards are in poor, minority neighborhoods.

The media outlet also states Bain owns a stake in Clear Channel. The company who owns the billboards won't take the signs down despite several online petitions.

Once again, Romney can't shake his days running a rich investment firm that bankrupted many companies. In a close election, local Democrats in those three cities need to point out that something wrong is happening. The billboards aren't false advertising—the penalty for voter fraud consists of jail time for a felony conviction.

Yet instances of voter fraud are rare as compared to the number of voters. The Chronicle-Telegram of northern Ohio points out there were 70 convictions of federal voter fraud from 2002 to 2005. Over the past decade, nearly 700 million ballots have been cast in federal elections.

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NPR report:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/10/18/163158185/swing-state-billboards-warning-against-voter-fraud-stir-backlash

"Just the concentration of them is a pretty good indication what the end goal is and who these anonymous billboards are targeting for voter suppression," he says. In other words, students, minorities and others who tend to vote Democratic.

And in such a close election, this has lots of people wondering who is behind the ads.

Clear Channel Communications, which owns the billboards, isn't saying. A spokesman wrote in an email to NPR that the advertiser asked to be anonymous. That goes against company policy, but he said the contract was signed by mistake and the company does not plan to take the billboards down.

"We will do all we can to ensure it does not happen again," the spokesman said.

He didn't respond to questions about why the company allowed almost identical billboards to go up anonymously in Milwaukee in 2010. They were also funded by a "private family foundation."

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