New Jersey Political Fundraising ‘Subscription’ Scams: The Latest

New Jersey Senator Vince Polistina, R-2 wants to stop a political fundraising scam that appears to be occurring with increasing regularity.

It’s a subscription-style, recurring automatic debit process that is removing money from unsuspecting persons credit cards or bank accounts.

Examples have been recently cited whereby people thought they they were contributing to President Donald Trump … only to find out that it was going to a candidate that they had never heard of.

New Jersey Gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli has accused one of his opponents, Bill Spadea of engaging in this practice.

Polistina has shared a recent Politico article, which details this practice of campaign, so-called “subscription” solicitations. Here is the link to the coverage, which Polistina titled: Recent reports

In this Politico report, Chris Russell, a campaign strategist for Jack Ciattarelli, said in a statement that Gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea is “a phony and a fraud."

"It's not surprising these folks are mad at being ripped off, especially when they learn that he has a history of putting fundraising dollars directly into his own pocket," Russell said, referring to a Spadea nonprofit, the Common Sense Club, that reported paying him $65,000 before he became a candidate,” said Russell.

It’s currently not illegal to do this “check a box,” “subscription” fundraising scheme, whereby a person can make recurring contributions that happen through regular automatic debits … that they may or may not be aware is happening.

Polistina wants to make this practice illegal in New Jersey.

It is a “predatory practice that has no place in democracy," said Polistina.

Polistina is sponsoring The Political Donation Transparency Act.

"An 85-year-old grandmother just trying to support a candidate she believes in shouldn't have to worry about being tricked into draining her savings account," said Senator Polistina. "Yet, that's exactly what's happening to seniors and working families across our state who discover their one-time donation has turned into a monthly subscription they never wanted. This is a predatory practice that has no place in democracy,” said Polistina.

Here is the framework of Polistina’s plan to combat this predatory practice, which reads:

Ban the use of pre-checked boxes that automatically enroll donors in recurring contributions.
Require campaigns to obtain clear, explicit consent for any recurring charges.
Impose strict penalties on campaigns that violate these protections.

SOURCES: Senator Vince Polistina, Jack Ciattarelli, Chris Russell & Politico.