naughtyOne tiny problem, the "record-breaking" petition may be rife with fraud.
One common tactic, which almost snared my parents, is these little creeps would stand around in front of supermarkets and claim people were signing a petition to allow supermarkets to sell alcohol. Once they signed the "alcohol petition," people were then asked to sign an "affidavit" stating that they were over 18 and were eligible to sign the petition. Problem was the "affidavit" was actually the anti-same-sex-marriage petition. People took the creep-o signature collectors at their word and signed without insisting on seeing the text hidden by a piece of paper.
And yes, did hit the news here after someone insisted on seeing the text on the "affidavit" and blew a gasket when she saw what it actually said.
At any rate, to make sure that all the names are legit, Know Thy Neighbor has created a database online that will allow you to check the names and addresses of who signed the anti-same-sex-marriage petition. If you find your name there and you didn't sign, there's a handy link to a PDF of a fraud affidavit that will be forwarded to the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office.
Note: While I can't speak for other states, I can say that yes, it is legal to do this in Massachusetts. Petitions are public documents, and your name and personal information likewise become public information when you sign them. That's why you do not sign a petition if you don't want your name publicly associated with the cause it supports.
Due today's Boston Globe article, please note that the database search on Know Thy Neighbor is more than a little hampered. Searching by name and street address has been disabled and the results are a little slow in coming.
To give you an idea, I've been noodling with the database for
ETA:
ETA2: While you're waiting, here's a little something from The Daily Show about the tragic effects Same-Sex Marriage has on drooling knuckle-draggers.
ETA 3 My name isn't showing up in my city, so that's good news. Hopefully when the ability to search by name is up, I'll be able to make sure my name doesn't crop up under an old address.
