STORY #1 - Whitman Spokesman Henry Gomez Claimed Whitman Had Been Registered Decline To State Since She Moved To California In 1980 Because "She Wasn't Sure Of Any Of The Candidates." "Whitman grew up in a Republican family on the East Coast, Gomez said. But from the time she moved to California in 1980, she has been registered as decline-to-state rather than Republican. 'When she came to the state, she wasn't sure of any of the candidates, so she registered decline-to-state,' Gomez said. 'But she's a Republican person.'" (John Wildermuth, "Whitman Boosts Her GOP Credentials," San Francisco Chronicle, 9/4/08)

STORY #2 - Whitman Claimed She "Voted Republican Most Of The Time" But "Wasn't Entirely Sure" And "Thought, 'Let's Just Do 'Decline To State.'" "Whitman grew up in a Republican family on Long Island, but until recently she was registered as an independent. 'I had voted Republican most of the time, but I wasn't entirely sure, and I thought, Let's just do 'decline to state,' she says." (Jon Swartz, "Former EBay CEO Meg Whitman Considers Politics," USA Today, 9/21/08)

STORY #3 - In Her Interview With The Los Angeles Times In February 2009, Whitman Called Herself "A Lifelong Republican." "A New York native who first moved to California in 1981, she called herself 'a lifelong Republican.'" (Michael Finnegan, "Whitman Unveils Her Stands," Los Angeles Times, 2/11/09)

STORY #4 - Whitman's Prepared Remarks To The California Republican Party In February 2009 Mentioned That She Had Been A "Decline To State" Voter Since 1998. WHITMAN: "As you may have read, I've been a registered 'decline to state' voter since 1998. As the CEO of a public company, with an enormous community of users and employees covering every imaginable political persuasion, I purposely made the decision to register DTS." (Meg Whitman, Remarks To California Republican Party, Sacramento, CA, 2/21/09)

STORY #5 - In Her Press Conference At The California Republican Party Convention, Whitman Acknowledged That She Registered In 2002. "The billionaire candidate did acknowledge that she 'registered in 2002' after her return to California in 1998. She told delegates in a speech at a convention earlier this year something different - that she had 'been a registered 'decline-to-state' voter since 1998.'" (Jack Chang, "Whitman Pressed On Past," Sacramento Bee, 9/27/09)

• Whitman Then Said She Didn't Know Where The 1998 Registration Claim Came From. REPORTER: "[Y]ou were registered in 1998, and there's no record of that. Are you inferring that you did? The Bee reported after you were not registered at all before 2002." WHITMAN: "So when I came back to California, I registered in 2002, so I don't know where that came from, but I registered in 2002 when I came back to California, so thank you for that." (Meg Whitman, Press Conference, California Republican Party Convention, Indian Wells, CA, 9/26/09)

Whitman And Her Campaign Continue To Offer Different Excuses About Whitman's Inconsistent Responses:

Whitman Now Says The Sacramento Bee Article About Her "Atrocious Voting Record" Is Not Accurate. REPORTER: "So for the record, you didn't register to vote until 2002." WHITMAN: "Um, well, yes. Yes. There is some chance that Sacramento Bee story was not perfectly accurate, but it doesn't actually matter, it doesn't matter because my voting record is actually atrocious. And my registration record is atrocious." (KCRA's "News," 9/30/09)

Whitman Said Her Statement About Her Decline To State Registration In 1998 Was "A Mistake." "Whitman said her previous statement that she was registered as a decline-to-state voter since 1998 was 'a mistake.'" (Juliet Williams, "Whitman: I Was Too Busy To Vote, That Was Wrong," The Associated Press, 9/29/09)

Whitman Claimed That She Did Not Say "Go Find It," To Which The Bee's Editor Responded: "We Are Very Comfortable With Our Reporting. We Have A Tape Of The Interview." "In his game changer investigation of Whitman's voting record, the Bee's Andrew McIntosh had written: 'In an interview, Whitman said she was registered as a Republican before coming to California, but declined to say where the public record might be found. 'Go find it,' she said.' But when [KGO's] Ronn [Owens] asked her about that, eMeg claimed: 'I didn't say that.' To which SacBee Political Editor Amy Chance diplomatically replied: 'We are very comfortable with our reporting. We have a tape of the interview.'" (Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine, "EMeg Keeps Digging & DreamWorks Digs Jerry," "CalBuzz" Blog, www.calbuzz.com, 10/1/09)

When Asked How Whitman Could Have Made False Statements In A Major Speech, Whitman's Press Secretary Replied, "I Wasn't There." "We asked press secretary Sarah Pompei again yesterday for an explanation of how Whitman came to make false statements in a major speech at a political convention. The best she could come up with was, 'I wasn't there' and 'there was an error.' We'll say." (Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine, "EMeg's Vote Dodge, Jerry's $, Parsky's Dead Meat," "CalBuzz" Blog, www.calbuzz.com, 9/30/09)

Whitman's Campaign Refused To Say Whether She Was Confirming Or Denying That She Had Never Registered To Vote Before 2002, Claiming "She's Not Litigating Her Voting Record." "Later, however, Whitman's campaign refused to say whether the candidate was confirming or denying the report that she never registered to vote before 2002. 'She's not litigating her voting record,' Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said." (Michael Finnegan, "Top GOP Candidates Joust At Convention," Los Angeles Times, 9/27/09)

Whitman's Press Secretary Claimed That Whitman "Misspoke" At The February 2009 CRP Convention. "The billionaire candidate did acknowledge that she 'registered in 2002' after her return to California in 1998. She told delegates in a speech at a convention earlier this year something different - that she had 'been a registered 'decline-to-state' voter since 1998.' Whitman press secretary Sarah Pompei later said about Whitman's earlier statements, 'She misspoke, and it was wrong.'" (Jack Chang, "Whitman Pressed On Past," Sacramento Bee, 9/27/09)

THE TRUTH? WHITMAN DID NOT VOTE FOR 28 YEARS

FACT: Whitman Did Not Vote For 28 Years:

1974: Whitman Was First Eligible To Vote In the 1974 Congressional Midterm Election, But Did Not Register To Vote. "Whitman, now 53, turned 18 and voting age in Suffolk County, N.Y., in 1974. Officials say they have no record of her registering or voting there." (Andrew McIntosh, "Meg Whitman's Voting Record Short, Sparse," Sacramento Bee, 9/24/09)

There Is No Record Of Whitman Registering To Vote Until September 12, 2002. "Whitman returned to the Bay Area in 1998, when she was hired to be eBay's first chief executive officer and take the company public. She told delegates at the convention that she had 'been a registered 'decline-to-state' voter since 1998.' The Bee was unable to find any public record of that registration. The first registration record The Bee found, in San Mateo County, was dated Sept. 12, 2002." (Andrew McIntosh, "Meg Whitman's Voting Record Short, Sparse," Sacramento Bee, 9/24/09)

When Asked Where Her Voter Registration Might Be, Whitman Said, "Go Find It." "In an interview, Whitman said she was registered as a Republican before coming to California, but declined to say where the public record might be found. 'Go find it,' she said." (Andrew McIntosh, "Meg Whitman's Voting Record Short, Sparse," Sacramento Bee, 9/24/09)

• "Sarah Pompei, A Whitman Spokeswoman, Did Not Respond To Repeated Requests For The Campaign To Provide A Document Or Say Where Whitman Was Registered In 1998." (Andrew McIntosh, "Meg Whitman's Voting Record Short, Sparse," Sacramento Bee, 9/24/09)