Charges of voter suppression are flying in Pasco County, Florida.  According to the County Supervisor Brian E. Corley, his office is being overwhelmed with hundreds of voters alerted by robo-calls from Organizing for America that early voting started today.  OFA is the re-election organization for President Barack Obama.  Early voting does not begin until Oct. 27.  Some voters have even begun showing up at the office, only to be turned away.

Corley said, “I have made contact with the Organizing for America folks and they are aware of the situation. They have pledged to cease sending voters confusing messages with misinformation and will re-evaluate the robo-call message,” Corley said.

Republicans are concerned that this is happening in Pasco County. In 2008, John McCain won Pasco County by a margin of 51-47.

UPDATE (11:40 AM): This report from Fox 13 in Tampa says that door-to-door solicitors have also been giving the false start date of Early Vote. The effort may also be targeting senior citizens:

In Pasco County, Supervisor Corley has also seen another disturbing trend causing voter confusion: he says robo-calls and door-to-door solicitors have been going out saying early voting has started. Dozens of senior citizens have shown up to the elections office, only to realize they’ve been duped.

According to the Supervisor of Elections Office, a group called Organizing for America sent out the calls that early voted was to start today.

“It’s troubling that people are getting in their cars, some of which are senior citizens, and coming to our office and being given misinformation,” Corley said.

UPDATE (1:00 PM): The Weekly Standard is now reporting  Obama Campaign volunteers are impersonating Election Officials:

“This issue arose a day after Corley took a complaint from a voter about an OFA volunteer who initially said he worked for the elections office. The man told the voter there was a problem with her voter registration status, though officials confirmed her registration is fine.”

Update (2:09 PM): From the Tampa Bay Times:

OFA spokesman Eric Jotkoff said the call refers to a program where voters can request an absentee ballot at the elections office and fill it out on the spot. Corley said that program is known as a “carry-out absentee ballot,” which is available now. But he said some voters specifically mentioned early voting.

“It is causing, I would say, massive confusion,” Corley said. “The problem is the message going out is severely misleading.”