State Board of Elections issues guidance after NC residents receive bogus voter registration mailers

The group sending the mailers, Ready to Register Inc., has no information on its website identifying who is running the organization. The website itself is anonymously registered, but has an online form for registering to vote that includes a privacy policy and terms of services agreement describing its data collection.

Ready to Register's terms of service statement cites incorporation in Delaware and a search of business records in that state showed the group was registered anonymously by a law firm called Cogency Global, Inc.

This reporter received one of the mailers, seen in the image on the right, which was addressed to my father-in-law who passed away in 2006 and who has never resided at my current address. The letter came in an envelope labeled "time sensitive: immediate action required."

"Our records show you may not be registered to vote in North Carolina," the letter states. "If that's right, the deadline to register to vote for this November's election is 25 days before Election Day."

The letter was signed by "Erik Leigh," with a title of "Program Coordinator" for Ready to Register. No matching online profile for an "Erik Leigh" was located, however, the group has a Facebook page which says it is a nonprofit organization but no other information on who runs it.

A mail carrier who requested not to be identified tells this reporter that they delivered a number of these letter in the past few days, noting that "Most of which were to vacant houses or to people who didn't live at the address listed."

An email with questions about the mailers and who is running Ready to Register was sent to the only contact address on the group's website. So far, that email has gone unanswered.