RALEIGH, N.C. -- Thousands of North Carolinians have  received automated phone calls  in the last few days that state officials said the broke the law.

 

The calls started last week as voters began getting automated  phone messages telling them to expect a voter registration packet in the mail.

 

The problem was, North Carolina’s register-by-mail deadline had passed nearly two weeks earlier, and many who were already registered became confused.

 

As the complaints began to pile up, those cataloging them began to notice a pattern where certain groups seemed to be targeted.

 

The situation was brought to the attention of Attorney General Roy Cooper’s office. He said those automated phone calls are illegal.

 

“They don't identify the group sponsoring the call, nor do they give the recipient info as to who they need to contact to stop the calls from coming,” said Cooper.

 

The calls originated from a group calling itself Women's Voices-Women Vote. Late Wednesday afternoon,  Cooper's office sent the group this letter ordering them to cease and desist making those calls.

 

“A lot of the complaints came from African-American voters,” said Chris Kromm of  the Institute for Southern Studies. “When we heard a lot of the complaints were coming from African-Americans, that really raised a red flag for us.”

 

Kromm also said the institute's research indicates the Women's Voice group has a number of interesting connections to Bill Clinton.

 

 “They claim they're a non-profit, non partisan organization. But, its president is a recent donor to Hill-Pac, a big Hillary funding group. The executive director worked for Bill Clinton in his ‘92 campaign and the lawyer for the organization  is the lawyer who defended  Clinton during the impeachment crisis in the 90's,” said Kromm

 

However, local reprehensive of the Hillary Clinton campaign here in Raleigh said the campaign “has no connection to the organization conducting these robo-call … and has never accepted any funds from this organization."

 

On it's Web page, The Women's Voices organization apologized for the calls saying it was just trying to help register voters.

 

The local Obama organization here in Raleigh was asked what it thought about the situation. .

 

“They have issued an apology and we take them at their word,” said spokesman Dan Leistikow.

 

Meanwhile, the Attorney General says the investigation into the calls continues. Roy Cooper says there could be sanctions and fines imposed on the group as a result of the calls.

 

He said his office will also be looking at the company hired to make the calls, the contact lists they used, as well as how many people here in North Carolina were affected by the calls.