By Pam Martens: October 19, 2012

As we reported earlier today, Colin Small, a man linked to the Republican National Committee, was arrested yesterday in Virginia for tossing completed voter registration forms into a dumpster.  The arrest comes on the heels of growing claims of voter registration fraud carried out by firms tied to Nathan Sproul.  Small was previously employed by Sproul’s firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, until it was terminated by the RNC at the end of last month, according to news reports.

This afternoon, three ranking Democrats in Congress issued the following letter to Reince Priebus, Chair of the RNC, demanding answers regarding the RNC’s relationship with Sproul.

Separately, Elections Subcommittee Ranking Member Charles A. Gonzalez wrote to the Virginia State Board of Elections to ask how it would handle further cases of potential voter disfranchisement as the scandal there continues to unfold.

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 October 18, 2012 

Reince Priebus, Chairman

Republican National Committee

310 First Street, SE

Washington, DC 20003

Dear Mr. Priebus:

On October 2, 2012, we wrote to request information about the relationship between the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Nathan Sproul, a former RNC contractor who is at the center of a series of serious allegations of voter registration fraud in Florida and several other states. Despite claims by your spokesman that you fired Mr. Sproul’s companies based on your policy of “zero tolerance” for such allegations, Mr. Sproul has conceded publicly that the RNC was fully aware of his previous record and, in order to conceal it, urged him to establish a front company with a different name.[FN1]

Last night, it was reported that a man in Harrisonburg, Virginia, was arrested and charged with eight felonies and five misdemeanors for attempting to destroy voter registration cards of Virginia citizens.[FN2] After being alerted by a conscientious citizen, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office arrested Colin Small, who reportedly works for the same contractor hired by or affiliated with Mr. Sproul that is also under criminal investigation in Florida. This contractor, PinPoint Staffing, apparently was hired by the Republican Party of these states and by Strategic Allied Consulting, the company the RNC hired as your only national vendor for voter registration efforts.

While your spokesman claimed that the RNC severed all ties to Mr. Sproul’s companies after the Florida revelations, he subsequently told the Los Angeles Times that “the registration operation that he assembled continued working under the supervision of party officials.” [FN3]

These actions by the RNC and its contractors in Florida and Virginia highlight the importance of your providing full answers to the questions we raised in our October 2, 2012, letter. The American people have a right to know whether the RNC intentionally hired, or knew its contractors or subsidiaries had hired, companies and contractors with records tainted by allegations of past voter registration fraud and then directed them to conceal those records despite public claims of “zero tolerance.” There must be a clear response to the question of whether the RNC will cut all ties to PinPoint and all of Mr. Sproul’s various operations.

Tens of millions of Americans will be casting their votes over the next 17 days in what will be one of the most consequential elections in our history. Too many men and women have given their lives fighting for the right to vote, from the battlefields of Lexington and Concord to the streets of Jackson, Mississippi, for this nation to countenance actions that threaten the integrity of our elections or the right of eligible American citizens to participate in them.

You should find enclosed an additional copy of our letter of October 2, 2012. We firmly expect responses to our questions. 

Sincerely, 

Charles A. Gonzalez, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Elections

John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary

Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

/Enclosure 

cc: The Honorable Dan Lungren, Chairman, Committee on House Administration
The Honorable Lamar Smith, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Darrell Issa, Chairman, Committee on Oversight & Government Reform

Footnotes:

[FN1] Joseph Tanfani, Melanie Mason, and Matea Gold, “RNC Cuts Ties to Firm After Voter Fraud Allegations,” Los Angeles Times, September 27, 2012

[FN2] Michael Isikoff, “GOP registration worker charged with voter fraud”, NBC Politics, October 19, 2012

[FN3] Joseph Tanfani, “Man Registering Voters for GOP Accused of Tossing Forms in Trash”, Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2012