Tucson Region

Are felons knocking on doors for votes?

Felons could soon be knocking on your door to sign you up to vote. America Coming Together, a left-leaning national group that is registering voters in 17 key swing states including Arizona, said Friday that it will soon expand its Phoenix operations to include Tucson. The group came under criticism in the past week for acknowledging that convicted felons are among the people it hires as canvassers. "We believe they deserve a second chance," said Mo Elleithee, spokesman for the independent group, which is working against the re-election of President Bush but is not affiliated with any campaigns. The spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based group said it will continue to hire felons but not those convicted of violent crimes or those who still pose a danger to the public. "We will not employ anyone who is deemed to be a danger," Elleithee said. The canvassers go home-to-home collecting personal data required on voter registration forms, according to The Associated Press. In Arizona, this data includes birth dates, father's name or mother's maiden name, and either a driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. "As our canvassers go door-to-door, they'll be equipped with hand-held computer devices, allowing them to keep a detailed record of every contact and to help shape the content of future communications with a voter," according to the group's Web site. A review of federal campaign finance and state criminal records by The Associated Press showed that the names and hometowns of dozens of America Coming Together employees in Missouri, Florida and Ohio matched those of people convicted of crimes such as burglary, forgery, drug dealing, assault and sex offenses. At least four returned to prison. Neither Elleithee nor the group's state director, Michael Frias, could say whether any of its employees in Arizona have a felony record, though all employees are undergoing a background check. The group has hired 17 people to canvass residents in the Phoenix area and plans to double that number in the coming weeks. It will begin targeting Southern Arizonans in July. John Munger, the Pima County Republican Party chairman, criticized the use of convicts to gain personal information. "I don't think it's appropriate for convicted felons to be gathering that type of personal information. Sure they deserve second chances, but they deserve second chances with some caution," he said. Elleithee said the jobs are open to anyone and the group is not specifically hiring felons. It hopes to knock on 10 million doors around the country. "We want people to know we are very serious about what we are doing," Elleithee said. "People who have repaid their debt to society deserve a second chance."