Caught: Fake voting flyers distributed to African American voters in Texas

An unknown group handed out misleading fliers to voters in a primarily African American polling place in Houston, Texas, reports KTRK.

The fliers, which were handed out near an early voting location Tuesday night, claimed that "Republicans are trying to trick us" and said that voting Democrat was actually voting for Republicans.

"When you vote straight ticket Democrat, it is actually voting for Republicans and your vote doesn't count," says the flier. "We are urging everyone to VOTE for BILL WHITE. A VOTE for BILL WHITE is a VOTE for the ENTIRE DEMOCRATIC ticket. We have fought too hard to let Republicans use voting machines to deny us our basic rights. We must guard the change and NOT VOTE STRAIGHT TICKET DEMOCRAT! YES WE CAN!"

Democrat Bill White, the former Mayor of Houston, is currently running against Republican Governor Rick Perry.

"I expect this to be illegal because it's so inaccurate, no political group would want to associate itself with a lie, this is the under the table stuff that we see in elections," said Dr. Richard Murray, political consultant for KTRK.

The flier claims to be from the Black Democratic Trust of Texas, but no such organization appears to exist.

"These fliers are part of a coordinated effort between the Tea Party and Houston Republicans to intimidate and misinform voters," Chad W. Dunn, General Counsel for the Texas Democratic Party, told TPMMuckraker. "This deliberate attempt to misinform voters is the last ditch effort by the Republican Party that trying to win votes from a public that is skeptical of their failed policies in Texas."

The latest Public Policy Polling poll (.pdf) of likely voters, conducted in September, found Perry had a six point lead over White.

"Texans don't love Rick Perry, and as the challenger, Bill White is the rare Democrat who is running much better among independents and holding more of his party base than his Republican opponent," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "But it will still be hard for White to overcome his huge party registration disadvantage in this deeply red state."