A mailer from the Republican National Committee is drawing fire from both parties over its resemblance to official US Census documents. The “Congressional District Census” is in fact a fund-raising attempt, but comes in an envelope marked “DO NOT DESTROY OFFICIAL DOCUMENT,” Politico reports, noting that the tactic is one Republicans have used before, but its appearance during the year of an actual federal census could sow confusion.
House Democrats raised concerns in a letter last month to the postmaster general, saying the document “is an attempt to mislead recipients and appear to us to be violations of federal law.” Republican Patrick McHenry also “would discourage any organization from distributing information that intentionally or not is easily confused with official US Census materials,” his office says. A Census rep tells the AP the agency has received complaints and is considering action.
(More Republican National Committee stories.)