While I stood in line waiting to vote in November 2004, I overheard two poll workers puzzling over why there weren’t as many voting machines for this high-turnout presidential election as there had been two years earlier for the low-turnout midterm election. “Probably because the turnout was so low for the midterms,” one said. He thought there was an innocent explanation. So did I.

The truth was not so innocent. Elections in Ohio were run by Ken Blackwell, the Secretary of State and co-chair of the Bush campaign in Ohio. He was determined to keep Bush in power by hook or by crook, and one way to do that was to make it hard for Democrats to vote. Throughout Ohio, there were shortages of voting machines in Democratic-leaning precincts.

I thought about Blackwell when the telephone woke me up this morning.

The caller said he was from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The DCCC is raising money to win back Congress from the Republicans. Just a couple months ago, I made what, for me, was a large contribution. I told the caller that I’d already made a contribution, and couldn’t give any more right now. He renewed his spiel, and again I said I couldn’t give anything now. Once again he started to tell me how important this election would be. I said, “OK, that’s it,” and hung up.

Those campaign solicitors can be relentlessly pushy. Because I’ve made some significant donations, in the past most callers have been very polite to me, unlike today’s caller. You don’t annoy your friends. I was annoyed. I found myself wishing I’d said, “Put me on your do-not-call list. I don’t want any more calls like this.”

And that’s when I thought about Ken Blackwell.

Political contributions are a matter of public record. If you know where to look, anyone can find out how much I’ve given to particular campaigns and organizations. I checked my caller ID, which said “Unknown call.” Last time the DCCC had called me, it said “Democratic Cong.”

Maybe some Republicans are trying to poison the well, purposely annoying people who have contributed to Democratic causes in the past, and pinning the blame on those same Democratic causes.

I could be wrong. Democratic fundraisers are certainly capable of being overly pushy. Caller ID doesn’t always work. Maybe I’m just paranoid. But given the shady way the past two elections turned out, I’m no longer inclined to accept the innocent explanation. A little paranoia feels just about right.

Consumer tip: Don’t assume a caller soliciting a political donation is who he claims to be.

Another consumer tip: Don’t give your credit card information to anyone who called you, unless you know the caller personally. Even with caller ID, you can’t be certain that the caller is who he claims to be. For political donations, ask to be mailed a pledge form. Anyone who won’t mail you a form doesn’t get your money.