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Every presidential election prompts the circulation of misinformation regarding voting procedures. Sometimes the misinformation is merely an expression of political humor, sometime it's inaccurate information passed along in good faith by misinformed voters, and sometimes it's part of deliberate campaigns to keep selected groups of voters away from the polls by misleading or intimidating them. The message quoted below, which began circulating in the form of printed fliers in late September 2008, appears to be an example of the last category. The message starts out with the ploy of offering a helpful heads-up, advising readers that they should take care of any outstanding warrants or traffic fines before showing up at the polls, then segues into lauding technology that will supposedly allow undercover officers to identify and arrest scoff laws as they attempt to vote. But, according to the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety in Philadelphia, where these fliers were circulated in African-American neighborhoods, the gist of the message is a false one intended to intimidate voters in those areas (the preponderance of whom would presumably be casting ballots for the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama). Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison said that the message is completely false. The only thing that police officers are going to do that we'll be encouraging that day is that they'll be exercising their own individual right to vote, Gillison said. He plans to put up statements on the city and police Web sites to let citizens know that the handouts are false. He said that he also will record a public-service announcement for broadcast. Gillison referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the district attorney. We are not going to stand for any intimidation of voters, Gillison said. Not in this city. As the Philadelphia Daily News noted, the fliers distributed in that city may have been newly minted, but the technique they embody is a familiar one:
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