Tilting at Windmills: A Complaint to the Election Commission about Obama’s Dave Matthews Concert in Bloomington

*Promoted to the top by Josh*

Late last week, a number of blogs (notably Frugal Hoosiers and Wilmette) began to draw attention to the unusual actions of the Obama campaign with regard to the “free” concert that it arranged for Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds to put on in Bloomington on Sunday, April 6.

The Obama campaign was giving out “free” tickets to this concert to anyone that came by their offices (with registering to vote and encouraging the attendees to vote for Barack Obama tending to factor into this picture).

Your humble correspondent has not blogged about this until now, as I was in the process of researching the issue as much as possible in preparation for filing a letter of complaint with the Indiana Election Commission in my capacity as an Indiana voter who is impacted by what the Obama campaign has done, and as Chairman of the Harrison County GOP.

That letter, the text of which follows below, should be reaching the IEC this morning.

To Whom It May Concern,

During the week of March 31, 2008 to April 5, 2008, the Obama for America campaign and its agents distributed tickets to a concert by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds to be held at Assembly Hall at Indiana University Bloomington on April 6.

It is clear that these tickets had value; they were even being sold on eBay after they were given out for free. Based upon my information and reasonable belief, arising from publicly-available information and openly-given accounts of the event and the circumstances of the distribution of its tickets, I think that these tickets were being given out as a quid pro quo by the campaign and its agents for new voter registrations.

Further, I believe that these “free” tickets constitute payment of property by the Obama for America campaign and its agents in exchange not just for new voter registrations but to influence the opinions of voters in the May 6 primary that were the recipients of said tickets.

Based on this information and this reasonable belief, I think that the Obama for America campaign and its agents were in clear violation of IC 3-14-2-1, which prohibits “payment of any property” of value in exchange for applying for an absentee ballot, casting an absentee ballot, registering to vote, or voting.

A full investigation by the IEC into the exact circumstances of this event and the distribution of tickets to it is clearly warranted and necessary to ascertain relevant facts regarding potential violations of this and other portions of the Indiana Code.

Regards,
Scott Fluhr
Chairman
Harrison County Republican Central Committee

A lot of the reporting about the activities of the Obama campaign and its staff and volunteers (referred to as its agents in the complaint) are very troubling.

While the campaign was very careful in its official literature to cross their T’s and dot their I’s, they were not so concerned with the reality of how the event was handled. They also do not seem concerned with the behavior of their agents.

Media reporting seems to indicate among the attendees a very clear perception of value from the tickets, an implicit transaction whose value was to the clear benefit of the Obama campaign. Indeed, some of the tickets were even for sale on eBay (also noted in the comments of this post over at Blue Indiana).

Quotations in the media of students and others receiving free tickets, and then saying that the tickets influenced their decision to vote are legion.

Take this quotation from the Indy Star as an example:

“I didn’t really know who I was going to vote for before, but now I think I’m voting for Barack because of this,” Brighton said, looking around to the thousands of people tailgating in the sunshine. “Who gets Dave Matthews to come play at a school just like that? It’s pretty cool.”

Granted, others were not so easily influenced (as noted further on in that same article); but the Indiana Code does not make exceptions for measures of degree.

It is the transaction that is important, and the clear perception of value associated with that transaction. That the transaction had value is hardly of question, and that this transaction influenced at least some voters seems undeniable.

But more troubling still are a number of further allegations that need to be investigated more fully by the Election Commission. The statute that created the IEC empowers it with broad investigative and enforcement authorities, including subpoena powers, and this authority can hopefully be put to use in determining whether there was any violation of law by the Obama for America campaign or its agents.

I have heard, for example, accounts of individuals being told that they “merely” had to register to vote to get tickets.

In another example, cited on Frugal Hoosiers in the comments section, was more egregious still:

They were giving out tickets at Washington and Meridian as late as last night with a guy outside telling people “even if you’re registered, register again and we’ll give you the tickets.”

This is a particularly damning account. It is clearly a violation of IC 3-14-2-1, which prohibits the payment of property or items of value in exchange for registering to vote.

Let alone that whole thing about people registering to vote more than once, and that election registration forms are signed under penalty of perjury.

If even one person registered to vote to get tickets, the Obama campaign has violated the law (a less draconian standard than it first sounds; again the law makes no provision for degree).

The Obama campaign incentivized its agents to register voters; VIP passes to the concert were given to anyone that registered more than 20 voters.

I suspect that these agents, eager to get VIP passes, were not picky about how they got the necessary voter registrations, hence their offers of giving people tickets if they registered to vote, and not even caring if they were registering a second time and / or were filling out fraudulent voter registration forms in the process.

Now, I am not a lawyer and no state political party is providing behind-the-scenes support (in contrast to a recent complaint by a certain other blogger from the seats on the left); I’m just a lowly blogger, county chairman, and (most importantly) voter.

It could well be that, in filing this complaint with the Indiana Election Commission, I am–like Cervantes’ Don Quixote–tilting at windmills.

But if the complaint is not made, then there will be no investigation by the IEC and there will be no subsequent determination as to whether, down the road, this sort of thing will be tolerated when other politicians try to repeat it (as they surely will if it is allowed here).

I think there is a chance that the IEC, so often divided and partisan as it can be, will look seriously at this and could well find evidence that violations occurred.

The cynic in me would note that the two Democrats on the commission are most likely aligned with the state Democratic establishment and Evan Bayh, and thus probably with Hillary Clinton.

Might the Clintonistas and the Bayh clique be interested in making sure that Barack Obama plays by the rules like everyone else? I think that they just might.

Don’t get me wrong.

I like the involvement of more young people in the political process; I am one.

I also like the idea of registering and finding new voters; it had a lot to do with how Republicans won in 2004.

But the law is there for a reason.

If Barack Obama and his campaign want to register new voters, then they should register them within the confines of and processes set by the law.

If they want to involve more young people in the political process, they should do so by setting an example and not by skirting or violating election law.

How’s that for transcending politics?

This post is also available at Hoosierpundit; contact information is also available there.