"Beth White took an oath to uphold the laws of the State of Indiana. Yet, Beth White went on television to promote efforts by Barack Obama that are legally questionable, if not downright illegal," said John. "Those in a position to do so, should immediately investigate whether Beth White and Barack Obama have broken the law."
John said his concerns arise out of an interview White gave to WRTV that was broadcast Sunday wherein White told WRTV that, "The Obama campaign is having rallies with incentive if they come down to the rally and come here and vote early, you get preference for Barack Obama's appearance Wednesday at the Fairgrounds."
John expressed concerns that both the incentive offered by the Obama Campaign and Beth White's promotion of it on television violated Indiana Code 3-14-3-19, which prohibits exchange of items of value for votes.
"To his credit, whenever and wherever Senator Obama speaks, the event becomes one of the hottest tickets in town," John said. "By offering preferential seating to those who vote early, the Obama campaign is most certainly giving an item of value in exchange for early voting. The public should frown upon such activities, and they should be immediately investigated." John also specifically criticized Clerk White's
involvement.
"I am appalled that Beth White would use her position as Clerk and chief elections official for the county to promote Barack Obama's rally and help pitch his "incentives " to vote," said John. "This was not some idle comment to a reporter. Beth White looked straight at the camera and the voters at home and told them they would get special seats to the Obama Rally if they voted early. That was wrong, and she should be ashamed of herself for misusing her office in such a blatantly partisan
manner. "
If you wish to view the video of Beth White using her office to promote Obama's campaign rally, click here. The violation of election law could not be more apparent. White, an attorney, had this lame excuse:
Earlier, White said that the television clip, which was posted on YouTube, is taken out of context because it cuts in mid-sentence, after she explained that she is relaying information from the Obama campaign in response to a direct question.“We talk to both camps and we want to be prepared for any surges in voters,” White said. “This is about process, not partisanship.”
Tom John should be prepared for the worst. The Democrats and Obama campaign will deem him a racist who is trying to suppress minority voters from casting votes. Isn't that their response to any effort to ensure honest elections?
13 comments:
First let me say as a person who considers themselves a democrat I have serious concerns about the direction of my party. I am not however anywhere near changing parties and do not agree with the modern Conservative Movement. I detest politics as usual. I also do not think that Elizabeth White is the best person to be County Clerk. All that being said, criticism of her by Mr. Johns or anyone else because she commented on You Tube or from the top of Mount Everest that someone can get into a political rally that has already voted early is so nit picky as to show the side of politics EVERYONE thats normal detests. She certainly has her flaws but she is also endowed with the same rights of free speech every american can enjoy. It is not a violation of some election law to do what she did and if the Lawyers stretch it that way then there is the reason we everybodies hate lawyers too. Johns isn't such a great person either. If this were the last Republican Clerk announcing same information about a rally for Bush in 2004 wow, you'd all applaud her for getting the word out.
Dont worry Beth White is so incompentent and disorganized that anything she does ends up in a fiasco.........
Dont worry Beth White is so incompentent and disorganized that anything she does ends up in a fiasco.........
I find it hard to believe that art (or as some would call him, Wilson46201) would call Beth White "incompetent"
How dare you call her incompetent. She can run an election better than....better than.....better than....
Oops! you're right. She is incompetent!
When I voted today at the Clerk's office, people were asking about the Obama event tomorrow. Poll workers were telling them to go directly to the campaign because they knew nothing about it.
I saw her say that on TV on Sunday and the first thing that came to my mind was - can she say that legally ?
Whether she meant to or not - by saying that or just relaying that information went past "her pay grade".
I am surprised it has not gotten more air play.
Why do Republicans (in particular, Republican lawyers like Tom John and AI) cry about this alleged violation and Obama's ability to serve as president instead of taking legal action?
Here's why. Because they know how preposterous it is to contend that Obama is not eligible or that a ticket to a rally that can be attended for free would ever be construed as an "item of value" under the Indiana Code. Instead of having a special judge tell them they're completely off base, they'll just gripe instead and hope people don't pay attention to the details.
But here's the larger question. If Obama's people were giving out tickets for people who voted early, they wouldn't know how people voted. I could vote for McCain and still get a ticket, right? What's that? Who would vote for McCain and then go to an Obama rally? You're right, nobody. Which means that there's no chance that this influenced anybody's vote, which is why it's much ado about nothing.
You know what I got when I voted early? A sticker that said "I Voted." It made me feel pretty good about myself, so I guess Beth White violated the law there, too, didn't she, because she certainly gave me "something of value."
The experiment in individual freedom has failed. The US of America is kaput. I am planning for the coming crash. I would suggest others do the same.
Unlike others here. when my party has someone who can't do the job and needs to be replaced, I will admit it and work toward that happening. Beth White cant do the job and in 2010, I will join many other Dems in seeing that she no longer has the opportunity to screw up anything but her own life.
"Unlike others here. when my party has someone who can't do the job and needs to be replaced, I will admit it and work toward that happening."
I can't recall anything from you in that regard about a year ago when your party had someone in the final stage of terminal cancer.
downtown indy...that might be because my parents and my church taught me to have empathy for the ill and not to kick people when they are down.....too bad you missed out on that.
MISSOURI DEMOCRAT....I would love to see you again.
Please plan to attend the SPLIT THE TICKET Press Conference on Friday October 17th downtown @ 5:10pm. It's being attended by people across party lines that are sick of the status quo failures the people suffer from all parties.
Hoosiers For Fair Taxation will be there and will keep you updated with details.
--Melyssa
Mely I would love to see you again as well. I miss our little talks over a cigarette at the Yellow Pages. Today I received another in a list of bad health news. Another Cancer. I lost your phone number so I will do my dead level best to drop a note on your door or attend this rally. I am not much up for being out in public at rallys these days. I am not short on breath still to extend an opinion as you can see.
So, Art - your party's rules and policies have a 'pity clause' which allows them to be disregarded whenever you/they like? What utter nonsense.
Being unable to serve is exactly that, regardless of the reason. Not following your own rules shows how there is a 'protected class' in our government. That is the most shameful thing of all.
"Kicking a people when they are down" doesn't factor into it at all no matter how hard you might try to make it sound that way.
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