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Letter promises to expose those who do not vote

What would you do if you opened your mailbox and found a letter threatening to expose you to your friends, family, and colleagues if you decide not to exercise ...

What would you do if you opened your mailbox and found a letter threatening to expose you to your friends, family, and colleagues if you decide not to exercise your right to vote?

People we spoke with about this letter, say it`s not okay.

"What business of theirs is it to send out some sort of a flyer like this, here, I cannot understand it," said one man we spoke with in Lancaster.

The letter sent out by the Pennsylvania State Voter Report...

"What my choice is tomorrow is mine and mine alone. And the public has no right to know," said Ryan Heinaman of Elizabethtown.

...is rubbing some people we spoke with the wrong way.

"I think you ought to mind your doggone business, okay? People vote when they want to vote, they get out and vote, and how they vote, is their business," said the first man we spoke with, who chooses not to share his name.

The letter questions why people fail to vote, and says a new approach will be taken this year.

It states, "We`re sending this mailing to you, your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues at work, and your community members to publicize who does and does not vote."

Several people we spoke to say this is voter shaming, and not the right way to get people to the polls.

"I`m actually a middle school teacher and I`m thinking of behavioral issues or even just participating in class and calling out a student in front of all the other students would never be something that even works, let alone something we would try. I mean, adults really aren`t that different from kids," said Amanda Pearson of Lancaster.

Randall Wenger, clerk with the Lancaster County Board of Elections, agrees with the worries people are expressing.

He provided us with the response he`s been sending to concerned citizens, in it, saying, "You are not along in your feelings that it is an unsavory tactic."

He adds, though, that he has no information on the group 'Pennsylvania State Voter Report', and says it is not a political committee registered with the Board of Elections.

The Pennsylvania Department of State says this group is not affiliated with them, either.

Both the State Department and the Board of Elections, though, say a letter like this is not illegal, because voter information is public record.

And while some people we spoke with say this letter is unsettling, others say they won`t fall for these types of intimidation tactics.

"I would look at it and throw it out. I spend 22 years in the navy, this wouldn`t bother me one bit," said Richard Myers of Lebanon.

The Pennsylvania Department of State says it is looking into the origin of the letters, adding letters of this nature are not unique to the commonwealth.

They encourage voters to refer to official information before heading to the polls tomorrow by visiting www.votespa.com.

Representative Doyle Heffley of District 122 calls the letter a bullying tactic, and has asked the Attorney General to review the matter to see if any laws were broken.

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