Republican voter registration fraud: arrest in California

The CEO of a firm hired by the California Republican Party has been arrested for voter registration fraud. The firm is accused of systematically defrauding people into registering as Republicans by telling them that they were signing a petition against child molestation. The McCain campaign's accusations against the Democrats notwithstanding, this is the first and only arrest for voter registration fraud on this scale thus far this year. Read:

from the Los Angeles Times: Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case (by Evan Halper)

The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands of voters this year was arrested in Ontario over the weekend on suspicion of voter registration fraud.

State and local investigators allege that Mark Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. His firm, Young Political Majors, or YPM, collects petition signatures and registers voters in California and other states.

Jacoby's arrest by state investigators and the Ontario Police Department late Saturday came after dozens of voters said they were duped into registering as Republicans by people employed by YPM. The voters said YPM workers tricked them by saying they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters.

The firm was paid $7 to $12 for every Californian it registered as a member of the GOP.