Equal Opportunity

 

2009-2010

 

In 2008, multi-millionaire Californian Ward Connerly lost in four of the five states in which he attempted to re-write state constitutions and pass his divisive initiatives to ban equal opportunity programs. His campaign was plagued by charges of fraud and deception in every state and as a result, he failed to qualify for the ballot in Arizona, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Connerly's initiative was defeated in Colorado and passed in one state -- Nebraska. 

On June 23, the Arizona legislature gave Connerly "preferential treatment" and put his initiative on the ballot after Connerly made a made "a plea" to the state legislature to do for him in 2010 what he couldn't do for himself in 2008--put an initiative on the ballot to end equal opportunity programs in Arizona.

While Connerly says, "We can look at people's needs, their income, their social condition," his initiative would do no such thing. Connerly's initiative would not reform equal opportunity programs to account for economic factors, it would outlaw them completely.

In 2008, Connerly spent nearly $1 million in out-of-state funding in his unsuccessful attempt to get his initiative to rewrite the Arizona constitution on the ballot. Now, the Arizona legislature has saved him at least a $1 million since he won't have to spend money on paid signature gathering efforts.

Connerly also filed his equal opportunity ban in Missouri for the 2010 ballot but the language and summery for his initiative was recently thrown out by a judge, so opponents of equal opportunity will have to re-submit their filing before they can start collecting signatures.  In 2008, Connerly faced charges of using deceptive tactics in Missouri and desperately recruited people from out-of-state to help him gather signatures, including a racist group from California. It has also been reported that one of Connerly's paid signature gathers was picked up by the police because he was wanted in three states for signature gathering fraud related charges.  At the end of the day, the so-called "Civil Rights Initiative" failed to gain enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot in Missouri.

Connerly has personally raked in millions of dollars off his initiatives.  Using his two tax exempt, charitable, non-profit organizations as a personal ATM, Connerly has lined his own pockets with over $7.6 million in profits from 1997 to mid-2006.

This includes over $500,000 in salary from 2004 to mid-2006 and $2.2 million in payments that Connerly paid himself just for "speaking fees and interviews." This $7.6 million figure doesn't include the money Connerly has paid himself since June 30, 2006.

Last year, The American Conservative revealed:  "In 1998, 22 percent of his nonprofits' revenue was paid to Connerly in salary or to his firm. By 2001, Connerly's salary and the fees charged by Connerly and Associates ate up 49 percent of the nonprofits' combined revenue. Most of the money paid to the firm was listed on tax forms as "speaking fees." In 2006, when Connerly took up a concrete goal in political activism-ending Michigan's affirmative-action policies-the cut of nonprofit revenue paid to him and his firm rose to 66 percent of total receipts, nearly $1.6 million."

They also revealed that Connerly was under investigation by the IRS, writing, "An IRS spokesman said that he could not comment on a case under investigation."

One big question Connerly refuses to answer is how much he has profited from his non-profits since mid-2006 since he hasn't filed any reports with the IRS for three years.

2008

 

Arizona

In Arizona, Connerly turned in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but he faced yet more charges of fraud and deception by local groups of citizens organized to oppose the measure.

Connerly spent nearly $1 million in out-of-state funding to re-write the Arizona constitution. He faced charges by a local coalition of opponents to the measure that those hired to gather signatures misled voters by not informing them that the initiative would eliminate equal opportunity programs.

The widespread irregularities found by state and local officials in the signatures Connerly turned in forced his initiative to be stripped from the ballot.

In addition to the signatures that were thrown out by state officials, 100,000 fraudulent or suspicious signatures turned in by Connerly to Arizona's Secretary of State were the subject of a legal challenge that ultimately proved unnecessary once the initiative was rejected from the ballot.

Colorado

In Colorado, the New York Times detailed the deception Connerly used to collect signatures. Connerly's paid staff targeted people at Obama rallies and a Martin Luther King Day parade, telling them that his initiative would "end discrimination", when in fact, it will end affirmative action programs that have evened the playing field and offered a ladder up for qualified women and minorities to compete.

PBS's NOW program exposed Connerly's use of fraud and deception to qualify his initiative for the ballot in Colorado. Watch one women explain her feelings about being lied to by Connerly's campaign. PBS NOW also reported on the equal opportunity programs that would have been ended in Colorado had Connerly been successful.

Connerly faced a legal challenge in Colorado where half the signatures he turned in (70,000) were the subject of a lawsuit. Over 56,000 signatures failed to match any registered voter, even using the broadest screen possible to combat any data entry errors.  Colorado law requires circulators to be Colorado residents and swear that they reside at the address given on the petition form; however, numerous circulators used old, invalid, or even false addresses, bringing into question nearly 7,000 signatures. Connerly even admitted to the Associated Press that "about half" of his signature gatherers were from out of state. The Secretary of State (and GOP candidate for Congress), who was embroiled in a controversial move to remove registered voters from the voter rolls, failed to act on Connerly's fraud and deception. Instead, opponents of the measure dropped their suit and focused their efforts on defeating the initiative at the ballot box.

Missouri

In Missouri, Connerly faced charges of using deceptive tactics and desperately recruited people from out-of-state to help him gather signatures, including a racist group from California. It has also been reported that one of Connerly's paid signature gathers was picked up by police because he was wanted in three states for voter fraud related charges. 

At the end of the day, the so-called "Civil Rights Initiative" failed to gain enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot in Missouri.

Nebraska

In Nebraska, Connerly faced charges that petition collectors collected signatures illegally- filling out information for people signing petitions, misleading voters by not reading a required statement, and leaving signature sheets unattended.

One of Connerly's paid signature gatherers in Nebraska testified in court that he and others engaged in voter fraud and deception and, in October, a warrant was issued for the arrest of a Connerly petition circulator.

On June 6, the Omaha World-Herald wrote in an editorial titled, ‘Kill This Petition', "Certainly the notion of eliminating ‘all gender and race discrimination in Nebraska' is quite desirable. But that is not what this effort is about."

The editorial exposed the deceptive tactics Connerly and his paid-petition gatherers have been using across the country and concluded, "Don't buy this garbage. Don't sign the petition."

On June 10, the Lincoln Journal Star, wrote in an editorial, "Workers circulating petitions to end affirmative action in Nebraska have dishonored the citizen initiative process by using misleading tactics." The paper also said, "The people collecting the signatures on petitions are using deception to meet their goals."

Connerly's California-based American Civil Rights Coalition ignored the written opinion of Nebraska's campaign finance commission and refused to divulge the names of its biggest donors.

A legal challenge was filed against Connerly's campaign in Nebraska. The lawsuit questions the fraudulent and illegal actions of paid petition circulators and public notaries employed by Connerly. The lawsuit challenges at least 40,228 signatures submitted to the Secretary of State by Connerly because of the pattern of fraud and illegality. 

While Connerly's initiative passed in Nebraska, the case is still pending a decision from the court.

Oklahoma

In Oklahoma, Connerly failed to receive enough citizen support to get his divisive initiative on the ballot. When Connerly turned in his signatures, the Oklahoma Secretary of State referred a report on Connerly's petitions to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court citing numerous problems with the signatures including: circulators who signed the petition multiple times, numerous duplicates, and ninety-two people who gave different versions of the same address. 

In an unprecedented move, Connerly requested to have his initiative withdrawn in an acknowledgement that fraud and irregularities plagued the petitions he submitted to the state.

Profiting Off Non-Profits

While Connerly cynically pushes his "civil rights" initiatives with rhetoric about working towards a "colorblind society", he has personally raked in millions of dollars as the right-wing's face of the effort to roll back equal opportunity programs. 

Using his two tax exempt, charitable, non-profit organizations as a personal ATM, Connerly has lined his own pockets with over $7.6 million in profits from 1997 to mid-2006.

This includes over $500,000 in salary from 2004 to mid-2006 and $2.2 million in payments that Connerly paid himself just for "speaking fees and interviews." This $7.6 million figure doesn't include the money Connerly has paid himself since June 30, 2006.

This year The American Conservative revealed:

In 1998, 22 percent of his nonprofits' revenue was paid to Connerly in salary or to his firm. By 2001, Connerly's salary and the fees charged by Connerly and Associates ate up 49 percent of the nonprofits' combined revenue. Most of the money paid to the firm was listed on tax forms as "speaking fees." In 2006, when Connerly took up a concrete goal in political activism-ending Michigan's affirmative-action policies-the cut of nonprofit revenue paid to him and his firm rose to 66 percent of total receipts, nearly $1.6 million.

They also revealed that Connerly was under investigation by the IRS, writing, "An IRS spokesman said that he could not comment on a case under investigation."

One big question going forward is how much Connerly has profited from his non-profits since mid-2006 and how much his non-profit organizations paid out to him over the last two and half years.

Connerly's Shady Past

From 1989 to 1994 Connerly used his own race to land no bid contracts worth over a million dollars. Connerly repeatedly enlisted as a minority contractor with the California Energy Commission -- securing contracts for his Sacramento lobbying firm without having competitive bidding. By certifying with the commission's special race-based program, Connerly helped guarantee his firm three separate contracts -- one for $1.1 million in 1989, a second for $105,227 in 1992, and another for $35,000 in 1994, according to the records. The contracts were filed under the name of California Building Officials, an association that lists Connerly as its sole agent.

In 2005, the State of California fined Connerly's group $95,000 for violating state campaign finance law for unlawfully failing to disclose contributions. Connerly was forced to divulge the names of the key financial backers of California's Proposition 54. Prop 54, which would have prevented the state of California from collecting vitally important racial data, would have devastated the state's ability to address disparities by race or ethnicity in health care, educational resources and academic achievement, and hate crimes and discrimination. Connerly, fronting for a wealthy all-white group of top funders, led the campaign to adopt it.

You can tell a lot about Connerly by the company he keeps. Connerly has welcomed the support of racist, white supremacist leaders and groups.

His efforts have the support of the controversial group United for a Sovereign America, whose members are affiliated with neo-Nazi groups. In 2006, Connerly said "God bless" the KKK for their support of his divisive initiative in Michigan.

David Duke has even highlighted Connerly's efforts and success on his website.

Following passage of Connerly's Michigan initiative in 2006, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission released a report that presented "evidence of shameful acts of deception and misrepresentation" by paid agents of Connerly. The report included the testimony of over 500 people on the issue of how signatures were gathered to put Connerly's Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) on the November 2006 ballot.

A court ruling found that "the MCRI engaged in systematic voter fraud by telling voters that they were signing a petition supporting affirmative action."

The court also wrote, "All Michigan voters, whether supporters or opponents of affirmative action, should be concerned by the actions taken by MCRI in its attempt to place the proposed amendment on the November 2006 ballot. In particular, opponents of affirmative action should be concerned by what the MCRI has done while purporting to act in their name. If the proposal eventually passes, it will be stained by well-documented acts of fraud and deception that the defendants, as a matter of fact, have not credibly denied."

Exposing Ward Connerly

In September, the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) launched a TV ad in Colorado and Nebraska that exposed Ward Connerly and his divisive campaign to outlaw equal opportunity programs.

BISC also launched a website, BigMoneyConnerly.com which is the most comprehensive one-stop shop for research and information on Connerly and his divisive efforts.