'Voter report card' unauthorized, Martin's office says

Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin's office said Tuesday that some voters are receiving letters purporting to be from an entity calling itself the Arkansas State Voter Program that publicize which of the recipient's neighbors have voted.

The letter "was not issued or authorized by the Secretary of State's Election Division, nor is this program from a registered business entity in the state of Arkansas," Martin's office said in a statement.

The mailings contain a "voter report card" that lists the recipient's neighbors' names, addresses and voting histories dating back to November 2010, according to one mailing obtained from the secretary of state's office. The mailing also said it intended to send out updated charts after the May 20 primary.

While that information is public record, the secretary of state's office has received complaints from voters unsettled by the mailings. An estimate of how many letters have been received and a complete list of counties to which they have been sent wasn't immediately available, but secretary of state spokesman Laura Labay said the mailings have been received in Searcy County, among others.

The Arkansas State Voter Program is a project of A Public Voice Inc., a nonprofit organization registered in Ohio. The mailers list a return address of an office building in Bentonville, though no suite number is given.

The secretary of state's office asks anyone who has received one of these letters to call Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office at (501) 682-2007.

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