State Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Ohkay Owingeh, gave $100 from her campaign fund three times last year to help cover funeral costs, according to a Wednesday article in the Albuquerque Journal.
She also wants to use her campaign fund for other expenses some would find questionable: She wrote a letter to the Attorney General’s Office last year asking whether it is alright to spend campaign money on phone cards, pizza parties and other expenses for voters. She wrote in her letter that her purpose in doing that “would be to garner good will from these men and women and their family and friends.”
The AG’s office, in a letter I found confusing, responded last month that, while the Campaign Reporting Act appears to allow such expenditures, they might be illegal bribes under the state Election Code. The Election Code forbids a lawmaker from “willfully advancing, paying… directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable consideration… to any person… to induce such a person, if a voter, to vote or refrain from voting for or against any candidate.”
Violation is a fourth-degree felony.
The AG opinion states that any thing of value, “no matter how trivial,” can’t be given to “influence or induce a vote” unless it is strictly campaign literature.
Phone cards are certainly not campaign literature.
But the AG opinion doesn’t directly tell Rodella that she can’t buy phone cards for voters to “garner good will.” That’s why I’m confused. Does the Election Code allow that or not? The AG opinion answers only with clear-cut examples: A magnet that says “Vote for XX” is probably OK, while a $10 bill is probably not. In between, the AG opinion seems to state, is a gray area.
There should be no gray area. Candidates should be allowed to ask for votes, but not bribe for votes. Handing out literature or trinkets that include candidate information and a call to vote for the candidate is appropriate. Providing food at an event at which a candidate asks voters to choose him or her is appropriate. Paying for voters’ funeral expenses and phone cards to “garner good will” is not appropriate. When someone is running for election and giving something to a voter, seeking to “garner good will” and “influence or induce a vote” are one and the same.
If state law doesn’t already make this clear, legislators need to clarify it.