NAACP pays for votes with crack cocaine

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/18/mary.poppins.registers.to.vote/index.html

Authorities charge man submitted fictitious voter registration forms
Monday, October 18, 2004 Posted: 7:39 PM EDT (2339 GMT)

Ohio authorities say a man was charged Monday with allegedly filling out more than 100 fictitious voter registration forms, some in names such as Disney character Mary Poppins and pop singer Michael Jackson.

Chad Staton, 22, of Defiance County in northwestern Ohio, was to receive money for each registration form he could persuade potential voters to fill out, said Sheriff David Westrick.

Instead, Staton, himself, filled out the forms and returned them to the Toledo woman who hired him. Sheriff's deputies allege he was paid in crack cocaine instead of money.

Staton had his first court appearance Monday on a felony charge of false registration, and was released on his own recognizance. He has another court appearance scheduled for Friday.

Westrick said the Toledo woman, Georgianne Pitts, 41, told officers she was recruited by Thaddeus Jackson II of Cleveland to obtain voter registrations. He said a business card provided by Pitts indicated that Jackson is the assistant Ohio director of the NAACP National Voter Fund.

According to its Web site, the National Voter Fund advances the cause of civil rights through advocacy, educating voters on candidates' stands on civil rights and increasing voter turnout in the African-American community.

The sheriff added that deputies and Toledo police had obtained a search warrant for the house where Pitts lives. He said officers confiscated drug paraphernalia and voter registration forms from the home