After being criticized for offering to pay University of Connecticut students extra money for every Republican registered at a voter registration drive this week, U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon has decided not to offer the bonuses.
“We have dropped the bonus component of our voter registration drive,” said McMahon’s spokesman, Shawn McCoy, today. “The bonuses are in full compliance with the law, but Linda weighed the concerns that were raised and asked that we drop that component of the plan prior to the launch.”
Students who help with the drive will still receive $10 an hour, but will not be paid the $5 bonus, McCoy said, noting that this is not the first voter registration drive McMahon has worked on. It, however, is the first time the Republican candidate was going to offer bonuses, he said.
McMahon’s plans to offer bonuses got the attention of House Majority Leader Denise Merrill, D-Mansfield. Merrill said Monday that she would add an amendment to an existing bill that would make it illegal to pay money in exchange for registering new voters.
“I am very troubled by the practice of using money to influence or persuade a person to register to vote before an election,” said Merrill, who is running for secretary of the state this year. “Any practice like this is fraught with the potential for voter fraud.”
Merrill said she was shocked to learn that McMahon intended to pay people to register voters in her own district. “The fact that someone might take advantage of a student in need of money is appalling,” she said.
While practice of paying people to register voters is not illegal, Merrill said concerns have been raised by the U.S. Department of Justice. The department is currently looking into McMahon’s voter registration drive, she said.
The justice department has not been reached for comment.