Real Deal: Ballot Question Petitions

Susan Wagner, Save Our Horses
"We believe we were the victims of a practice called bait and switch."

Wagner says it happened on street corners, shopping malls and parking lots. Workers were hired to gathered signature for two petitions: one bans the slaughter of horses for use as food. The other prohibits same sex marriage. But Wagner says, if you think you signed the horse petition, your signature may actually be on the one banning gay marriage.

Hank Phillippi Ryan
"Do you think people knew what they were signing?"

Susan Wagner, Save Our Horses
"No, we believe thousands of people were deceived."

Voter Janet Drake says she wanted to sign the horse petition, but knew something was wrong when the signature gatherer held out his clipboard.

Janet Drake, Voter
"He took it out and wouldn’t let me hold it. He had his thumb over the bottom of it. And that was strange."

When she demanded he let go, she realized what he was trying to do--have her sign the marriage petition.

Janet Drake, Voter
"To me it’s a scandal."

The Attorney General's office got so many complaints that they issued this advisory, warning voters to make sure they knew what they were signing.

But Save Our Horses says so many signatures were misdirected, it caused the horse petition to fail.

Susan Wagner, Save Our Horses
"We are completely distraught."

Those behind the marriage petition, which was successful, called the others "sore losers" and says that there were no questionable tactics.

Brian Rudnick
"I personally went out to supervise the paid signature gatherers on multiple occasions to insure that they were acting in the most ethical and practical manners."

Now Save Our Horses and a group called MassEquality are going on line trying to find the real deal. Each has put the signatures on their web sites and now wants voters to verify they knew what they were signing.

Arline Isaacson, MassEquality.org
"An individual has a right to know if their name has a been stolen from them, their identity stolen, their picture stolen."

So if your name is here, the groups say, and you didn’t mean it to be, let them know.

Susan Wagner, Save Our Horses
"We are collecting evidence, we are conducting an investigation, and we hope the results will be enough to help us get on the ballot."

Click below for more information on how to check to your signature on a petition:

Save Our Horses:
(617) 363-2644
www.saveourhorses.com

Mass Equality:
(617) 859-0325
www.massequality.org

Click below for a link to sponsors of the marriage petition:

Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage
781 647-1942
www.marriagematters.org