Sleazy Campaign Tactic of the Day

The chairman of the Republican Party in Virginia is warning people not to register to vote*:

Frederick is calling on Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) to launch an investigation. Frederick is also urging residents to avoid giving their names or social security numbers to canvassers seeking to register voters.

"Identity theft is widespread problem in Virginia," Frederick said. "Today, I am encouraging voters who have filed out any of these voter registration forms to immediately contact their registrars, and Virginians should exercise caution when approached by a stranger who asks them for their information."

Frederick's warning comes as Obama is deploying volunteers across Virginia to try to register 151,000 new voters by the Oct 6 deadline. Various non-profit organizations are also trying to register new voters, especially African-Americans.

All of this stems from the arrests of three people, who were working for an independent non-profit and getting paid for how many people they registered . Frederick was asked to produce evidence that this is a "widespread problem across the commonwealth":

But when pressed in an interview on his claim that registration fraud had been reported by local election registrars statewide, Frederick would not identify other affected jurisdictions, citing the advice of lawyers.

Local officials say the arrests show the system is working. And neither the Democratic Governor nor the Republican Attorney General sees cause for alarm:

"As far as we know, it's a very isolated incident. I'm just so glad we caught them," said James City County Registrar A.J. Cole, who has flagged 20 to 30 bad registration forms in his jurisdiction.

"The system worked," he said.

Neither the governor nor the attorney general see a need for the statewide inquest Frederick demanded.

Under state law, the attorney general lacks the power to order or oversee a statewide probe.

Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey said there is no need for a statewide probe because local registrars, police and prosecutors have already done the job splendidly.

*Note: As commenter Kaybeel points out, this is not literally what he is saying, but it is the message that Frederick is sending, as he tells people not to trust canvassers. There is no evidence that the three people arrested were involved in identity theft, nor is there any evidence that that they are part of a widespread, coordinated voter fraud effort. In fact, according to the AP story, it was the nonprofit organization they worked for that "first flagged the irregularities and made authorities aware of them."