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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (File photo)
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio severed his ties with an anti-illegal immigration group over a mass email that went out to thousands of people under his name.
Arpaio spokesman Chad Willems on Oct. 29 said the sheriff split with Ban Amnesty Now over an email sent out to recruit poll watchers to ensure that illegal immigrants don’t vote in the Nov. 2 election.
The email, which included the subject line, “6 days to stop illegals from stealing the election,” went out on Oct. 27 to about 40,000 people, according to BAN President Sean McCaffrey. Recipients were urged to register to volunteer at polling places to ensure that illegal immigrants don’t vote.
The message also repeated allegations of voter fraud in Yuma County, which included allegations that liberal organizations were trying to register illegal immigrants to vote. Secretary of State Ken Bennett has since said there is no evidence of such voter fraud.
“The allegations in the email distributed earlier this week were baseless and reckless. It’s clear that McCaffrey is out there acting on his own and using Arpaio’s name and others’ to raise money. What exactly that money is being used for is a mystery,” Willems said in a statement.
Willems said several liberal blogs picked up the story and accused Arpaio of trying to intimidate Latino voters. The allegations that illegal immigrants are “completely baseless,” Willems said.
“He’s making it sound like we’re alleging it, and we’re not,” Willems said. “Everyone’s calling us saying, ‘I can’t believe you guys put this out.'”
Willems said he asked McCaffrey to remove Arpaio’s photos from the BAN website and to stop listing the sheriff as a co-chairman of the organizaton. McCaffrey issued a correction on Oct. 29 and posted a statement on his website thanking Arpaio for his support.
McCaffrey said he drew up a first draft of the email with Arpaio’s name on it on Oct. 27, and emailed the sheriff to ask for permission to use his name. When he didn’t hear back, McCaffrey said he put his own name on the email, but the original version with Arpaio’s name accidentally went out to about 40,000 of the 1.3 million on his email list before he realized the error.
“That was a screw-up,” McCaffrey said. “We’ll still do everything we can for him.”
And Russell Pearce is left without a seat as the music stops. What happens when McCain gives 20 million illegal aliens amnesty? Only Russell will still be using harsh terms about illegal aliens.