Didn California try to shut down a vote pairing Web site in 2000?
In 2000, the Republican California Secretary of State, Bill Jones, threatened criminal prosecution against Voteswap 2000, a vote pairing website. However, in January of this year, Kevin Shelley, the current California Secretary of State, sent a letter to the California Speaker of the Assembly, Herb Wesson, asking for legislative clarification on whether the elections code provisions that prohibit vote buying or bribery apply to vote swapping or vote trading. Shelley’s letter stated that unless such legislative clarifications are made, Shelley “will not seek to prevent the operation of websites such as Voteswap2000.com and votexchange2000.com.” To date, the legislature has elected not to address the issue. Further, the American Civil Liberties Union-Southern California, and the National Voting Rights Institute have filed a suit that challenges Jones’ radical interpretation of the vote buying and bribery statutes. The outcome of that suit is pending.
