Face The State Staff Report
Face The State has obtained audio of a signature gatherer distributing false information about a hotly contested ballot initiative to an undercover reporter.
The signature gathererFTS Staff Photo
Face The State recorded the woman's statements after being contacted by multiple voters expressing concern about questionable comments she had made on the morning of July 3rd outside of the King Soopers at 9th and Downing in Denver.
The woman, who gave her name as "Janelle", said she worked for Fieldworks, the firm hired to obtain signatures in support of Initiative 82. That proposed measure would, if passed, allow for the continuation of race and gender preferences in public hiring and education. The woman also attacked Amendment 46, a competing ballot initiative already approved for the November ballot.
Telling the undercover FTS reporter that the initiative she was gathering signatures for would prevent a “guy out in California” from putting “quotas on programs we have,” the signature gatherer also told the reporter that Amendment 46, if passed, would eliminate battered women’s shelters (MP3) and also apply to the private sector.
After hearing the audio (MP3), Amendment 46 proponent Linda Chavez strongly disputed the signature gatherer's claims. "These tactics show the desperation of the opponents of the initiative and show that since they do not have the facts or persuasive arguments on their side, they have to resort to distortions and lies."
According to Chavez, Amendment 46 would eliminate race and gender preferences, while also prohibiting quotas, which are already illegal, in government hiring, education and contracting. Not a single battered women's shelter would be shut down, Chavez noted, saying Amendment 46 allows for sex as a factor of consideration in hiring or programming when public safety or health require the exception. She says most battered women's shelters are private, and would thus not be impacted by Amendment 46 provisions.
Chavez agreed with the woman's contention that Initiative 82 would maintain current preference practices, allowing government to continue using race and gender as factors of consideration in public hiring, education and contracting.
The woman's reference to a “guy out in California” and "quotas" concerns Ward Connerly, president of the American Civil Rights Institute. In contrast with what the woman alleged, Connerly has been a vocal opponent of quotas while also actively supporting Amendment 46. As a former University of California Regent, Connerly was convinced that the racial and gender preferences used by the state's public higher education institutions was tantamount to racial discrimination against white and Asian students.
In the audio recording, the woman points to the fact that Connerly is black, saying, “It’s kind of amazing that he would want to try to take programs like that away from minorities.”
Fieldworks has an exclusive contract with Protect Colorado’s Future, a coalition of unions and liberal advocacy groups. Protect Colorado's Future has approved the circulation of the Initiative 82, despite polls that show 63 percent of union households support the language of Amendment 46.