GOP jammed Dems' phones in 2002 election

Prosecutors say the New Hampshire Republican Party paid telemarketing firm GOP Marketplace "to make repeated hang-up phone calls to overwhelm the phone banks in New Hampshire and prevent them from getting Democratic voters to the polls" on Election Day, November 5, 2002.

Six phone lines that were being run by Democratic campaign offices, as well as phones in the offices of the Manchester firefighters union -- which was also doing a get-out-the-vote campaign that morning -- were jammed by computer-generated hang-up calls that tied up the lines for 1-1/2 hours.

Voters' rights were violated as the "computer-generated calls went to lines set up for voters who needed rides to the polls in Manchester, Nashua, Rochester and Claremont." The calls were "stopped after then-Republican State Committee Chairman John Dowd ordered a halt because of concerns about their legality."

Charles McGee, former executive director of the state Republican Party, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and served seven months. He also was fined $2,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

Allen Raymond, who was president GOP Marketplace LLC at the time, pleaded guilty to hiring a firm from Idaho to make the calls. He was sentenced to five months in prison.

The New Hampshire Republican State Committee, Republican National Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee settled a lawsuit brought against them by the Democratic party on December 2, 2006. They paid a $135,000 settlement. Democrats had originally sued for more than $4 million in damages. The NHRSC will pay $125,000 over five years and the RNC and NRSCC will each pay $5,000.

(info from The Washington Post & SourceWatch.com)