CenLamar

Yesterday, a candidate for political office was accused of parking his truck, which allegedly contained a large campaign sign in his flatbed, directly in front of the Rapides Parish Courthouse for an extended period of time, an allegation that, if proven true, should constitute a blatant campaign ethics violation, considering the Courthouse is currently a polling place in which record numbers of voters have already arrived to vote early. To some, such a minor infraction may seem to be unworthy of any real concern, but this alleged incident may be a part of a larger pattern. Robert Morgan, political columnist and blogger for The Town Talk, recently wrote about personally witnessing similar (potential) violations. In a blog post entitled “Politicking Close to the Polls,” Morgan writes:

There are three vehicles parked next to the back door of the Rapides Parish Courthouse, putting them less than 100 feet from the Registrar of Voters Office.

Each of those vehicles has a Slocum for Sheriff bumper sticker on it.

State law prohibits politicking within 600 feet of a polling place during an election.

Early voting is under way at the registrar’s office, making it an official polling place.

So why are the vehicles not moved?

Registrar Joanell Wilson said, “The law says it (electioneering sign) must be stationary. Automobiles, by law, are considered movable and are therefore not stationary.”

In short, there’s nothing she can do.

Perhaps this is part of the law that needs to be clarified. Typically, as some of you probably know from personal experience, poll watchers cannot emblazon any type of campaign insignia. They’re usually asked to remove whatever campaign bumper stickers they may have placed on their vehicles, simply to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Moreover, civil service regulations prohibit many government employees from overtly campaigning on behalf of a particular candidate. These people are not poll watchers, but they’re definitely supporters.

Of course, this could be a fluke. Mr. Morgan may have simply witnessed three Slocum supporters who all conveniently parked nearby in order to cast their votes early. And the allegations about the other candidate who parked his truck nearby, well, perhaps he was there on other business. But still, you have to admit: There appears to be a pattern here, and it is never wise for a campaign to encourage (or to passively allow) supporters, many of whom are government employees, to teeter on the blurred edges of the law– when such actions only perpetuate other, related allegations about intimidation and using public resources, personnel, and property for political purposes.