[Update: Three months ago in Virginia, the same group did the same thing, and made the same excuses. I'm having a harder time believing this was all an innocent mistake.]
Talking Points Memo has a long comment thread including comments from Sarah Johnson,* representative of Women's Voices Women's Vote, the group making the robocalls. She basically chalks it up to incompetence: says their goal is to register voters for the general election and they wanted to get an early start and just couldn't be bothered to check the primary schedule. And it's just bad luck that in state after state, they've made the calls a few days before the primary, after the deadline for primary registration ended.
She also said that instead of identifying and contacting unregistered voters, they've been targeting neighborhoods with low rates of registration. And so it's just bad luck that they've been calling registered voters in black neighborhoods and implying that the people aren't currently eligible to vote.
Johnson said they're using robocalls with a male voice and an African-American sounding name (Lamont Williams) because the group has the dual goals of registering women and African Americans. Though the website says otherwise: "Women's Voices. Women Vote started with one goal in mind: Improving unmarried women's participation in the electorate and policy process." She said there's another robocall using a woman's voice and the name "Julie."
The NC attorney general (pdf) says it's illegal to make a robocall in NC with no identification. When asked about the lack of identification, the phony name and the blocked caller ID, Johnson said it was human error.
The TPM thread also points out that the group has ties to the Clinton campaign. Which is suspicious but not enough for me to accuse Clinton of involvement. Though it stretches credulity, I'd like to believe that Johnson is telling the truth and they're well-meaning idiots. Still, it's a sad day when we have to wonder whether a Democratic campaign is possibly using sleazy voter suppression tactics against its own party.
*It could of course be someone else claiming to be Sarah Johnson, but Josh Marshall seems to believe that it is her.
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