Fellow citizens of Bow, upon hearing the final results in the election hall this past March, I immediately turned to congratulate and shake the hands of all winners, my opponents included.
Upon arriving home that evening, admittedly somewhat disappointed, I sat at my desk reviewing the final stages of the campaign, when my eyes fell to a packet of literature that an opposing group of running mates had stuffed in citizens’ newspaper tubes near their mailboxes including my own.
The packet was headed by a copy of an official Town of Bow ballot with opponents’ names already selected. There was no indication that this was a sample; in fact, the seal of the Town of Bow appears in one corner, and the signature of the Town Clerk, our senior election official appears in the other making it an official ballot. Nowhere on that ballot is there any indication that this was only a sample, nor is there the attribution statement required by state law. The individual palm cards, or informational fliers for each of those other candidates were also lacking the required attribution notations… you know, the familiar, but in this case lacking indication, “Paid for by Jill Smith candidate for Budget Committee Telephone 603- xxx-xxx.”
Putting aside the disappointment, I researched the State of NH election laws and found RSA 664:14 that specifically requires an attribution statement so that people know who is responsible for campaign advertising and have a clear way to follow up with any questions they might have for the advertisers and candidates.
At that point, I was deeply troubled by the principles involved. First, the misrepresentation of an official ballot with pre-selection of candidates seems to me to be at least cheating – if not fraud. Second, the willful violations of the state law for attribution statements demand that the violators be held accountable. My choices were to:
• let the feeling persist that the citizens of Bow, my running mates, and I had been cheated and set the precedent that Bow candidates for School Board, Select Board, Budget Committee are above the law…that was unacceptable.
• file an election law complaint and let the Justice Department seek a fair disposition.
The latter course was for me the better choice since it takes emotions out of the picture and focuses on the facts. If we hope to raise our children to be law abiding citizens we must set good examples.
- Jim Hoffman, Bow
Related: Article from Union Leader