Kenneth Smukler (born September 6, 1960) is a political operative in Pennsylvania, President of Voterlink Data Systems and a former campaign strategist for former US Representative Bob Brady.[1]
In 2005, Smukler co-developed a reality television program called Red/Blue where contestants would compete for $1 million to found their own 527 group during the 2006 election cycle.[3] The program was developed by Smukler and True Entertainment.[4][5]
Smukler's company, Voterlink Data Systems was used to generate content for NBC during the 2004 elections.[6] Voterlink Data Systems was used to create the national vote hotlines 1.866.MYVOTE1 and 1.866.OURVOTE.[7] The same technology was used to support the national voter hotlines 1.866.MYVOTE1 and 1.866.OURVOTE.[6] In 2005, he testified before the Commission on Federal Election Reform about the MYVOTE1 programs.[8]
He was named to the PoliticsPA list of "Pennsylvania's Top Operatives."[9] He was named to the PoliticsPA "Democratic Dream Team" of political operatives.[10]
In 2016, he co-founded the company Votecastr, to track the 2016 Presidential Election in real-time, publishing the results of turnout tracking at Poll Locations online throughout the day.[11]
Political Corruption and Federal Prosecution
On October 24, 2017, Smukler was indicted by federal prosecutors for allegedly making illegal campaign contributions on behalf of Congressman Bob Brady.[12]
On December 3, 2018 Smukler was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and federal campaign finance crimes in 2 congressional campaigns[13][14][15][16]
