Election Follies, Part 11

I have no mercy whatsoever for Republicans or Democrats who violate election laws. They wrote the laws. There can be no excuses from them.

So, get a load of this report out of Fort Wayne, from the Journal Gazette:

The Allen County Republican Party chairman fired the party’s executive director Monday after it was discovered that several party candidates for township offices could be bumped from the ballot because of forged signatures.

Steve Shine, party chairman, said he terminated Executive Director Douglas Foy’s contract with the party after he confirmed the signatures were not those of the candidates. Shine declined to comment on whether Foy signed the documents, but said as executive director, he was in charge of ensuring that the forms were properly completed.

...

Pam Finlayson, county elections director, said the party was having problems meeting the deadline. While she still required the candidates to file the primary part of the form on time, she allowed a secondary part of the form, acknowledging a candidate’s consent to campaign finance laws, to be filed later.

When the secondary parts of the form began arriving, Finlayson said she noticed that the candidate’s signature on one part did not match the candidate’s signature on another part. She said this was evident on about 10 filings. She did not have the exact number or the names of the candidates whose forms were in question late Monday, but they were all for township level offices.

The Libertarian Party just had eleven candidates withheld from the ballot for failing to meet a technicality. Well! What's good for the goose is good for the gander. These ten or so Republican candidates need to disappear from the ballot immediately if the law is the law, and the Elections Division is providing consistent outcomes.

Now personally, I think the booting of candidates is a great disservice to the people of our state, but the bar has been set. I think a better outcome would be that the eleven Libertarian candidates would be certified, and a fine levied against the Libertarian Party for missing the technicality, and everyone there moves on.

In the case of the Republicans, the best outcome might be that the ten or so candidates are put on the ballot, and the Executive Director might face some jail time, if in fact he committed perjury when forging the signatures of candidates.

Jail? From Indiana Code:

IC 3-14-1-13
Filing fraudulent reports
Sec. 13. A person who knowingly files a report required by IC 3-9 that is fraudulent commits a Class D felony.
As added by P.L.5-1986, SEC.10.

All of the State's campaign forms specify at the bottom of the first page:

A person who knowingly files a fraudulent report commits a Class D felony (IC 3-14-1-13).

Felons go to jail. Pretty simple.

Republicans and Democrats wrote this law. Republicans and Democrats should therefore be the standard bearer and the expemplars in how to do this correctly, and how to bear the consequences when this is done fraudulently- if there is to be integrity in our elections.

Hat tip to Mike Sylvester!

Vacation, Then Home Stretch

The Koles are going for some extended family visits in Ohio and camping in upstate New York. I'll be back to hit the campaign trail with a vengeance on Wednesday, August 16.

It happens that both my mom's and Ame's mom's birthdays are the same calendar day- August 13th. Plus, two of Ame's grandparents are sharing a 90th birthday party. So, there will be plenty of candles and cake & ice cream.

Many family members are going to Adirondack Park for Ame's mom's birthday. Ame & I will get there ahead of the gang so that we can camp at Long Pond, our most favored camp site in the Adirondacks, near the very small town of Speculator, NY. With any luck, NYC friends will meet us there.

Alex with New Yorkers Steve Wainstead and Greg McNair, as we prepare to bushwhack our way to the top of the granite mountain we jokingly refer to as "Mount Wainstead". It has an expansive plateau at the top, and tons of wild blueberries, which will be ready for harvest. July, 2005.

Greg, Mike, Ame, and Steve freeze while posing at Long Pond, in Fall 2003.

This will be Isabel's first wilderness camping experience. I suspect it will be more trying on Ame & I than on her, as we try to keep her safe. She's very independent and curious- a good thing, to be sure! Alex is 14, and can handle a full-sized pack, which makes the adults smile. This will be his fourth trip to Long Pond. I think this will be my 10th trip here.

We positively love it here, especially once black fly season is over. This particular location is very isolated- it receives fewer than 200 hikers/year! Without any light pollution, the stargazing is phenomenal. We really hope an early start fosters an enjoyment in nature in Isabel.

Mike & Alex strike the Age of Exploration pose atop the granite mountain, well above our campsite on Long Pond, seen in the background. The dogs will stay in Indiana this time. July 2005.

Reports of My Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

Supporters in Northwest Indiana, please remain calm. I understand an error has been made in a news report in the Michigan City News Dispatch, in their "Political Notebook" section:

Libertarians say law ‘outrageous'

LaPORTE - Greg Kelver of the Libertarian Party of LaPorte County said Thursday the state Libertarian Party is working to reverse an Indiana Election Division ruling that has refused to certify 11 Libertarian candidates, including Andy Wolf, who had filed to run against Democratic incumbent Scott Pelath in District 9.

Eight candidates are for the state House, one is running for secretary of state and two are running for federal office.

I am the Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State, and was filed correctly according to the law. While I agree with Kelver that the law is outrageous, I am not one of the candidates subjected to the Division's refusal to certify.

There is one Libertarian candidate for statewide office (Chad Roots, for Auditor) who the Division refuses to certify for the November ballot.

Fear not. I will be on the November ballot. A vote for Kole is a vote for ending ballot restrictions and shenanigans.

Kole's Wish List

Supporters routinely ask me where I need help in the campaign. Here's one of the most important things, and it doesn't involve writing a check for $100.

Take the day off for Election Day, and work a polling place. Wear a purple Kole t-shirt and hand out my palm cards.

Having a person at the polling place is generally good for an extra 2-5% at that location. Many voters do not actually decide who to vote for until the moment they arrive at the polling place. Let's have a vote for Kole be that last-minute decision.

Email me to make your commitment for Election Day today, at mikekole@msn.com. Let me know that you will be there, and that you will need a t-shirt, palm cards, and yard signs for the polling place.

Do this, and you will have done a great thing for me.

Of course, if you want to write that check for $100, please send it to:

Committee to Elect Mike Kole
1427 W. 86th Street, Box 227
Indianapolis IN 46260

Or, follow this link to donate online.

Your support is greatly appreciated!

Exclusion Coverage

Here are links to media reports on the issue of Libertarians excluded from the ballot.

South Bend Tribune report, by Martin D'Agostino.

Muncie Free Press report.

Indiana Legislative Insight is subscription only. Here is a quote from their report:

The LPIN asserts that it filed the notice via e-mail, although the statute bars such filing via FAX or e-mail, and the Election Division notes that the filing failed to identify any specific office. Division authorities informed the LPIN well ahead of the August 25 deadline for listing all candidates to be voted upon in November “in order that the LPIN may pursue a judicial remedy if they desire to do so.”

Secretary of State challenger Mike Kole (L) complains that with the statute, which became effective in late March, “the Legislature passed a law that was designed to trip us up, and succeeded.” Kole adds that “We never had to do this notification before. It was just one more hoop placed in front of the Libertarian Party, and we missed it. Some of the now disqualified candidates were going to supply the only opposition to an otherwise unchallenged incumbent.
A real service this bureaucracy provides to the people of Indiana. Can you imagine what it would be like if Coke and Pepsi wrote all the laws regarding the manufacture of soft drinks? That would be called collusion. With our elections, the Republicans and Democrats write the election laws. Why isn’t that called what it is? It is collusion. And, what about due process and equal protection
under the law? Apparently, if Republicans and Democrats collude to exclude a minor party, those arcane notions can sail right out the window.”

WIBC 1070-am online report link.

Though, we did not miss the deadline for filing. The LPIN State Chair was required to give notice of intent to fill vacancies post-convention. The rules for the Rs & Ds allow them to appoint by caucus of precinct committeemen, or to appoint by county chair. Ls are not allowed appointment by these two methods.

Fort Wayne Libertarian Jeannette Jaquish reports that local NPR affiliate, WBOI-FM, aired coverage of the press conference with quotes from me. No link available on WBOI's website thus far.



At the Statehouse, from left: Steve Keltner, who would have challenged Brian Bosma in Indiana House District 88; Kole; Scott Wise, who would have challenged in US House District 3; and Jo Coleman, who is still on the ballot for Indiana House 25.

News Conference Notes

Today's news conference on the Statehouse steps went well. The media attendance was light, though it seemed we may have been competing with an event inside, as reporters stepped out qucikly to get a news release, and then rushed back inside.

Speaking with WIBC 1070-am reporter Eric Berman, outside the Statehouse. From left- Tom Mulcahy, now ex-candidate for House District 96; Kole; Wayne Kirk, Hamilton County vice chair; Kim Brand, now ex-candidate for House District 53; Eric Berman.

I discussed the specifics of what happened to cause us to lose 11 quality candidates, such as Andy Wolf, who would have provided the only opposition to incumbent Scott Pelath, a Democrat, in House District 9; or Tom Mulcahy, who would have provided the only opposition to incumbent Gregory Porter, a Democrat, in House District 96. Bottom line- the two parties wrote a law that was intended to trip us up, and did trip us up. Should we have caught it? Yes, so shame on us. But far more shame on the Indiana Republicans and Democrats for putting the effort into this, for the purpose of their comfort, at the expense of the voters of our state.

I made the case for wider ballot access to all parties. Hoosiers deserve the widest choices possible. Let the voters decide whether or not to elect a Libertarian, instead of having the Elections Division and the Legislature take the choice away. Top rhetorical quotes:

"It is troubling to me that we have sent Indiana soldiers off to Iraq to fight and die to give the Iraqi people full minority party ballot representation, while here we are at home being denied the same thing by Indiana's Republicans and Democrats. There is something very wrong with this."

"If the two biggest oil companies got together to write laws that excluded their next smallest competitors, it would rightly be called collusion. Indiana's election laws are written by Republicans and Democrats who do everything they can to stifle ballot competition, in disregard for the interests of a stronger representative government and fuller citizen participation."

Thanks to Ben Ruben for the picture!

Press Conference Thursday Morning

I will take to the steps of the Indiana Statehouse Thursday morning at 10 am for a press conference. There I will let the people of Indiana know that they have been ripped off by the Indiana Legislature and the Indiana Elections Division, with the result being that 11 Libertarian candidates have been removed from the ballot.

The Legislature inserted a law into the Election Code that was designed to trip up the Libertarian Party. It worked.

The Division, which did not enforce this law in 2004, is now enforcing it. The Division could have chosen not to enforce, as it did in 2004. Is there any real harm in having 11 Libertarian candidates on the ballot? Some of them provide the only opposition to incumbents.

It seems that, so far as the Legislature and the Division are concerned, what is most important is the comfort of the Republican and Democratic Parties, and not the health of representative government.

So, we'll make the case. Watch for the story to be covered statewide.

Report From LaPorte

Another trip to LaPorte County, another successful trip!

The LPLP headquarters gets a beautiful new purple banner in the window. Fred Lutterman is dressed as Samuel Adams and helped point me in the right direction. Photo: Chuck Timm.

Next stop, Rolling Prairie and the Nowhere Bar to kickoff the official election season. Nowhere Bar owner Ted Pfauth toasts to Sam Adams, naturally. Photo: Vicky Kelver.

Ted Pfauth happily accepts a bumper sticker from me. Funny enough, I have yet to have a single small business owner tell me, "No- I really don't think that describes me". Photo: Karen Wolf.

Local radio stations were announcing the "100 Days to Victory" party being thrown by the local Libertarians, and it prompted calls to the Nowhere Bar from local Rs & Ds, so owner Ted Pfauth brought on two extra servers to handle to extra business. He was glad he did.

About 20 Libertarians came to get in gear for the upcoming election, and to have a good time together. We packed the back tables and end of the bar. Our event even drew a Republican candidate for Sheriff, and we had him speak to the Libertarians, who aren't running a candidate for Sheriff. Smart man- he knows that Libertarians hold a 10-15% base in the county, and that will be more than the difference on November 7.

Ted also spoke to our group. He shared his concerns about the tax burden he shoulders as a small business owner, and also spoke of the issues he hopes make the legislative agenda in 2007. At the top of the list is the issue of the 'cherry master' machines. Pfauth and other bar owners want them legalized and regulated, whereby they can have them in their establishments, make a profit on them, and the state can collect a tax windfall that, according to Pfauth, would outstrip the revenues generated for the state by the Hoosier Lottery. I told Ted he and the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association can count on my support in this regard.

Big thanks to LPIN District 2 rep Greg Kelver and LaPorte County Chair Doug Barnes for staging the event; to Fred Lutterman for sweating it out in the Samuel Adams costume; to the candidates who were there- Lutterman, Mike Sanders, and Andy Wolf (yes, I know...); and to the many photographers who supplied me with the photos!

Three trips to LaPorte County in three weeks. I'll look forward to the next visit!

Election Follies, Part Ten

Secretary of State is Indiana's ballot status race. For any political party, their candidate for Secretary of State must earn at least 2% to win automatic ballot access for the following four years. Automatic ballot access is important, for it means the parties are spared the need for petitioning in order for its' candidates to appear on the ballot.

Petitioning is expensive, and frankly, not very fulfilling. It's a lot of work, and you really aren't getting to talk about your issues. Ballot access was valued at $80,000 by Brad Klopfenstein when he was Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Indiana. He made his estimate on a purely paid petitioning effort. We can ask Bill Stant and the Greens what its' value is.

I am the Libertarian candidate for Indiana Secretary of State. I am running for many reasons. Among them is for continued Libertarian automatic ballot access. I want to make sure Libertarian candidates go straight to talking issues, passing petitioning. If this is important to you, please donate via this link today.

There are other ballot status thresholds that are tied to a party's outcome in the Secretary of State race, such as Major Party and Minor Party status. A political party is declared a Major Party when its' candidate for SOS earns at least 10%.

Major Parties particpate in the primary elections. Major Parties have representatives on the Indiana Elections Commission. Minor Parties are excluded from the primaries and the Elections Commission.

Obviously, being represented on the Elections Commission is a big deal. The Commission decides how rigorously enforce Indiana Code and impose fines. If your party isn't on the Commission, you have to worry if you get hauled before them.

The Republicans and Democrats use the Primary Elections to find out who their likely true-blue (or true-red) supporters are. Indiana is not a registration state, where voters declare their political affiliation. I wish it were. I would know who all these people who vote Libertarian are, and I could communicate with them directly. Rs & Ds communicate directly with those voters who take a partisan 'R' or 'D' ballot at the Primary. Nice little advantage they have created for themselves, but it isn't just bad for Indiana's Minor Parties.

It's bad for the voters. Most voters are not partisans. They're independents. They scratch vote across the three parties. When campaigning, I hear a great many tell me that they vote for the best candidate and not the party. I believe them. So, this majority is fairly alienated by a Primary Election that requires the voter to take only either a partisan 'R' or 'D' ballot, the act of which is a declaration that, under threat of perjury, the voter intends to cast the majority of their votes for that same party in the November General Election.

Scratch voters haven't made up their minds in May. They are waiting to see the character of the candidates emerge on the trail. They stay away from the polls in May. Here's the proof: The turnout in 2006 for the Primary was merely 19% statewide. That's 19% of registered voters, not of eligible adult citizens. That's embarrassing.

It's time for the General Assembly to look at the mechanics of the partisan ballot. It's time to eliminate the perjury clause. It's time to make voter information available to all parties, by making Indiana a registration state.

It's also time to re-evaluate what it means to be a Major Party statewide in Indiana.

I believe that a Major Party is one that fully participates in the elections statewide. A Major Party should therefore run a candidate in every race that is on the ballot for statewide office, for Federal office, and for Indiana House and Senate. If a party is truly a Major Party, it has the resources and the wherewithal to run a candidate in each of these races, otherwise it is just packing it in and doing a disservice to the voters.

The Indiana Democrats are a joke party if they can't or won't run a candidate for US Senate. They should be stripped of their Major Party status immediately.

To be fair, no party would be a Major Party under my listed criteria, as the gerrymandering of districts has made it so both Democrats and Republicans pack it in for a significant number of Indiana House and Senate Districts. You want to brag on your Major Party status? Give the voters representation in every district. Otherwise, join the Libertarians as Minor Parties.

Libertarians are laughed at when we fail to post candidates for high posts. Very well. Let's now laugh at the Democrats and Republicans, because they are as guilty as anyone.

Major Party status is currently set with the comfort of Republicans and Democrats in mind, and discomfort for the Libertarians and all other parties similarly in mind. That's what happens when election laws are written by Republicans and Democrats. If two oil companies wrote the laws on oil production, distribution, and sale, we would call it collusion. Guess what Indiana election law is?

It is important that we have competitive elections in Indiana. It allows for issues to be vigorously discussed until November instead of until May. It means greater turnout at the polls. It means more people paying attention to what government does. It means more accountable elected officials. In sum, it means a better representative government.

Until Rs & Ds have to work to earn their Major Party status, we will continue to see lazy efforts by them, whereby they surrender 40% of the seats each to one another, and fight over about 20% of them to see who gets the majority in the Indiana House. Until the Indiana Legislature changes the rules to make it tougher on the Rs & Ds, the people of Indiana will continue to be ripped off by those parties, and the voters will stay home.

Sweating in Nashville

Every candidate knows that Fair Season in July and August, and that it's going to be hot under those canvas tents. Today was ridiculous, as temperatures in Brown County reached 97 degrees, with humidity to spare. Isabel and I were soaked the whole time, and fortunately, so was every hand I shook. It was great to see Al Cox and Duncan Adams. I was disappointed not to run into Eric Schansberg, who is attending every county fair in the 9th Congressional District.

I had a nice chat with Bill Stant, the erstwhile Secretary of State candidate for the Green Party. Bill reports that it is pretty certain that his effort to get on the ballot via petition fell short. This is disappointing to me in that I support full ballot access, regardless of party. I would rather have the voters of our state decide to vote for a candidate, or not, rather than have that power sit with the Republicans and Democrats, the Indiana Election Division, or anyone besides the voters.

Interestingly, it occured to me that I have seen Bill on the trail more than the incumbent or the Democrat. It looks like we have invisible candidates from the "major" parties. Quite a disservice to the voters.

At any rate, I am looking forward to tomorrow's indoor, air conditioned event at the Nowhere Bar at Rolling Prairie!

On The Trail

There are two events planned for the early part of this week.

Monday: I will be in Brown County, in support of local candidates Al Cox and Duncan Adams- two people who know the Constitution, and would govern accordingly. The event is the Brown County Fair, and I will be there from 6-8pm.

Tuesday: The LaPorte County Libertarians are hosting a "100 Days to Victory" party, at the Nowhere Bar in Rolling Prairie. August 1 is also the 230th anniversary of a notable speech by Samuel Adams. It may be that a few of this American patriot's namesake beverages are tipped in his honor! It will be a meet-and-greet event for candidates on the November ballot in LaPorte County.

Election Follies, Part Nine

I have had a few local (Fishers) people ask me if after I run for Secretary of State, is it my plan to run for Fishers Town Council in 2007. I always respond in the same way.

Let's not put the cart in front of the horse. I am running to win the election for Secretary of State. I have no plans for future elections beyond 2010, when I would wish to run for re-election.

But, let's consider the question purely as an exercise. What would running for Fishers Town Council, or any Indiana town council, mean?

Just as shown in Part Nine when considering the gerrymandering that is the at-large nature of the election of County Commissioners who ostensibly represent districts, many elections for Town Council are similarly gerrymandered by an at-large vote of the entire town, even though the candidate is only representing a district.

Even if the incumbent thoroughly alienates the voters of her district, so long as that incumbent is of the town's dominant political party, they can reasonably go to the bank on that majority, knowing that the voters will vote more against opposition party labels than for the incumbent.

Besides- you can go door-to-door in a district. It gets to be a stretch to do the same in the whole town.

Here's the kicker- the Town Council can choose whether or not its elections will be at-large for all seats or by district. It merely has to write an ordinance that chooses direction. Guess which way the ordinance will go if there is a 100% majority on that council, and the possibility of changes in the near future due to changing demographics? Give yourself a pat on the back if you said "at-large". Here's the law, per Indiana Code 36-5-2-5:

IC 36-5-2-5
Representation by district, at large, or both

Sec. 5. (a) The legislative body has:
(1) one (1) member for each district established under:
(A) IC 36-5-1-10.1; or
(B) section 4.1 or 4.2 of this chapter; or
(2) the number of members provided for when the town adopted an ordinance under section 4.1 of this chapter abolishing town legislative body districts.
(b) The legislative body shall provide by ordinance that its members:
(1) are to be elected by the voters of the district in which they reside;
(2) are to be elected at large by the voters of the whole town; or
(3) are to be elected both by districts and at-large.
(c) If a town legislative body adopts an ordinance under this section providing that its members are to be elected both by districts and at-large, the ordinance must:
(1) specify which seats on the legislative body are elected by the voters of a district and which are elected by the voters of the whole town; and
(2) provide that the ordinance is effective on January 1 following its adoption.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.4. Amended by Acts 1982, P.L.33, SEC.27; P.L.11-1988, SEC.13; P.L.7-1990, SEC.63.

(Emphasis supplied.)

At-large votes make for safe, unresponsive incumbents who need not fear challengers from minority parties in towns that are dominated by one political party. You can't expect the Town of Fishers, dominated by Republicans, to change the ordinance. It would mean having to really work for re-election, and it might mean having an elected Libertarian.

After all, Phil Miller won election in the City of Greenfield in 1999, defeating an incumbent Republican who happened to be the GOP county chair. In the City of Greenfield, elections are not voted on at-large citywide, but strictly by district. Phil went door-to-door in the whole district, and made his case. He won wearing the Libertarian label.

It is time for the Indiana Legislature to repeal the at-large provisions made available in IC 36-5-2-5. It is time to end the gerrymandering of the at-large municipal vote which assures victory to the dominant party. It is time to give the people competitive elections in Indiana's municipalities.

As Indiana Secretary of State, I will lobby the Legislature for these changes.

Election Follies, Part Eight

I was recently asked in an email why the Libertarians aren't running a candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner against Christine Altman, in light of the clear case we make against the high cost of light rail and mass transit boondoggles. After all, Altman is a Republican who is on record supporting regional mass transit, and this is an obvious case of wasteful pork. It should be a good place for a Libertarian to challenge where a Democrat could not- on grounds of fiscal conservatism. Altman represents Clay Township, which is to say Carmel, where fiscally conservative voters rule the day.

It's a good question, and perfectly well observed. This is a race that a Libertarian could make interesting. Here's the problem, and why nobody wanted to step forward:

Although the County Commissioner represents a district in the county, the whole county votes on the position, even those living outside the district that the Commissioner would represent.

This is per IC36-2-3-3:

IC 36-2-2-3
Election of executive; terms

Sec. 3. (a) The executive shall be elected under IC 3-10-2-13 by the voters of the county. The number of members to be elected to the executive alternates between one (1) and two (2) at succeeding general elections.

(b) The term of office of a member of the executive is four (4) years, beginning January 1 after election and continuing until a successor is elected and qualified.As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.5-1986, SEC.33.

So what, you ask? Observe how it has played out in other Commissioner races.

Steve Dillinger has been a Hamilton County Commissioner since the mid-1980s. He has routinely lost in the townships he represents- Delaware and Noblesville. However, he has won in the townships he does not represent, and since those townships make up the lion's share of the county, he has been continually re-elected.

This kind of election is its own kind of gerrymandering. The incumbent can thoroughly alienate his district and still be re-elected, merely because his party holds a solid majority countywide. Because Republicans hold a countywide majority in Hamilton County, the incumbents really don't even have to campaign outside their districts. They go to the bank on the majority. It has the effect of reducing the accountability of the Commissioners. Why listen to the District if the others in the County will elect you?

It also has the effect of making elections non-competitive, where it's over with the May Primary Election. That's a huge disservice to voters, not only in November, but for the entire time from May to November, where the incumbent's best strategy is to be relatively invisible. Want to talk issues? Go talk to that wall.

For a challenger, it means that you have to campaign over the entire county, even though you will only represent a portion of the county. In the case of running against Altman, it means campaigning in nine townships for the privilege of serving just one- Clay Township. It's daunting and therefore prohibitive. You could go door-to-door in one township, but the County?

So, Altman runs unopposed in the General Election in November. She remains unaccountable to the district, and the people are given another reason to not bother turning up at the polls. Not to pick on Altman- this happens across our state, where most of the 92 counties are dominated by either the Rs or Ds. Only a handful- Marion, Monroe, and LaPorte come to mind- are competitive at the county level. (Is that why Mitch Daniels promotes elimination of Township offices? Well, that's another topic for another day.)

It is time for the Indiana Legislature to end this kind of election. It's time to make the Commissioners accountable to their districts by having only their districts vote for the candidates that would represent them.

It is time to revise IC 36-2-3-3 to read: "The executive shall be elected under IC 3-10-2-13 by the voters of the district within the county.

Election Follies, Part Seven

Is there any exhausting this topic? Actually, no.

Let's go up to LaPorte County, where the Libertarians are exceptionally active, and exceptionally aware. They have this notion, which I also subscribe to, that laws are laws, rules are rules, and if Ls have to follow them, Rs & Ds have to follow them.

There are many forms a candidate must fill out and file. The CFA-1 is the document that forms a candidate's committee. You can't just run as an individual. The corporatization of the process requires you to form a committee. This also applies to political party organizations at the state and county level. The CFA-4 is a lenghty document that details both the funds raised and the funds expended by a committee. There are various schedules for detailing contributions by individuals, corporations, and labor unions, and for expenses for operations, advertising, and the like.

Naturally, the filing of these forms has deadlines attached to them. With deadlines come penalties for late filing. As shown below, when I was late, I was called before the Election Commission to explain myself, and was assessed a reduced fine. So, what happens when the LaPorte County Republican committee and its candidates fail to file a CFA-4 in a timely manner? Apparently, nothing, until the Libertarians hammer the issue.

The Republicans failed to file papers in 2003 without repercussions, according to the LaPorte County Libertarians. The Rs similarly failed to file this year. From the LP's letter to the LaPorte County Clerk:

Please consider this letter as a formal complaint by the Libertarian Party of LaPorte County (LPLP) against the failures of the LaPorte County Republican Central Committee and/or the LaPorte County Republican candidates for office to file Pre-Primary CFA-4 Reports in a timely manner as prescribed by I.C. 3-9-5-6. These reports should have been filed by noon on April 17, 2006, and as of July 6, 2006, they still had not been filed.

From the LaPorte Libertarians' press release:

The law requires candidates and regular party committees to file the report by noon on April 17 and provides for a $50 per day fine up to a maximum of $1000.

LPLP Vice Chair Andy Wolf expressed his frustration with the Republicans failing to file the forms. "We submitted a similar complaint in 2003 against both the Republicans and the Democrats," said Wolf, "when neither filed the required forms, and there were no repercussions. This latest violation just goes to show that the parties who wrote the rules think that they can get away with habitually breaking them with impunity. This year the LaPorte County Election Board should send a clear message to those parties and individuals who violate the campaign finance laws."

(Incidentally, Andy Wolf is one of the Libertarians that has been barred from the ballot by the Elections Division. Repercussion?) A full exposition of the issue can be found on the LPLP's website, via this link.

At any rate, rattling the cage seems to be what it takes to get people to comply with the laws their own party helps write. LPLP reports thusly:

UPDATE: Republicans admit guilt and will pay fines (7/26/2006)

Really, I would rather see being a candidate and a political party become easier and less complicated. I detest these pointless for-filling exercises. Nobody feels safer because a committee filled out more paperwork. Nobody feels representative government is strengthened by more copious and minute reporting, especially as you get down to the local level, or where small amounts of money are being raised and spent. But, if Republicans are going to help make the process more tangled with paperwork, then they should lead the way, setting the example for what flawless reporting is. No excuses- you're a Major Party!

I urge the people of Indiana to contact their State Senators and State Representatives, urging them to strip out needless filings. If a committee raises less than $100,000 in a calendar year, let's make it exempt from quarterly filing. If a committee raises no money in a calendar year, require it only to file an end-of-year statement.

Report on WXNT Appearance

I was delighted to be back in the studios of Newstalk 1430 WXNT-AM on the northside of Indy, on the "Abdul in the Morning" program. Abdul invited me to take the opposition side on mass transit and light rail. Mark Fisher of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce was on the "pro" side of the issue.

Two things struck me about the Chamber's position:

1. They are talking now about backing a comprehensive system for the Central Indiana region
2. They seem willfully ignorant of the effect the tax burden would have on our regional economies

The Chamber touts this as an investment in the region. I said I felt like Carl Sagan, because I was explaining that honestly that investment is "billions and billions" of dollars. The proposed Nickel Plate corridor is not a system. It is a route. It would cost a billion dollars. That's $1,000,000,000.00! It would serve only a handful of the region's commuters. I believe it is unfair to serve this select, tiny subset of the region's population, at the expense of the whole region.

The Chamber replies that it plans to serve everyone, with a regional system. So, I'm Carl Sagan again- billions and billions... Have to get to the airport. Have to go to Carmel, and Zionsville, and Greewood, and Mooresville, and... billions and billions. It's an investment, but it's also a process that strips money away from everybody, regardless of whether or not you have an interest in riding. That's an inequity, and should not be instituted by law.

IndyGo's model is positively awful. More than 80% of the operating revenues come from taxes. Why on earth would we desire to expand this drainage? Why is the Chamber so willing to tax us into oblivion?

People in Central Indiana may react emotionally to gas prices and say that they will ride the train. But, do the reality check.

Once you get off the train, are you going to walk to your other destinations? Or, take the bus? Don't you really actually like having your car for the freedom to stop and impulsively by that $4 latte, or to run a couple of errands on the way home from work? How will you achieve that if you are taking the train? Will you mind a train ride that takes 40 minutes when the car ride is 25 minutes? Each way?

Name the biggest, most constant target for terror attacks in the USA. It's the New York Subway, isn't it? Think of what it will be like when you become dependent upon mass transit, and your route is interrupted, by an accident or yes, a terror attack. Ready to walk that 20 miles? My best friend Steve, had to do just that in NYC when service was recently interrupted. That's one long walk from Manhattan to Queens.

A caller said that he believed that light rail systems are the darlings of socialists. I couldn't agree more. It makes the Chamber's position, and the Republicans in Hamilton County that back it so stridently, less surprising by the day, but all the more disappointing.

Letter in Fort Wayne

Many thanks to Mike Sylvester, who had a letter published in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel today. He mentioned me by name:

Indiana election law should be written so that citizens can easily understand it. Indiana election law should be written to encourage citizens to run for office. Indiana election law should not be a barrier to the democratic process.

Indiana needs a secretary of state who will push the legislature to simplify Indiana’s election law. Indiana needs Mike Kole, Libertarian candidate for secretary of state. He says, “The law should be easy for average citizens to understand, should encourage participation from candidates of all parties and should encourage participation by voters because their views are best represented when all parties participate.”

Thanks, Mike Sylvester!

Election Follies, Part Six

It is July 25, 2006. I have a hearing today before the Indiana Elections Division. The reason is that I filed late- in January, 2005.

If I have to pay a fine for being late, so be it. I was late. It was an honest mistake. I went to visit my son for his birthday. Alex was living in Spain at the time, and he was first on my mind. The Committee to Elect Mike Kole was in its' infancy, and I was managing all the paperwork. We have a team that does this now. Major thanks to Ken Johnson!

I was a few days late, and will likely be fined on a per-day basis. So, can I get a $10/day reduction in the fine for every day that passed beyond one year of the filing date?

Probably not. It would mean the Division would be owing me money. So, why is it that the deadlines and timeliness are to be followed as a matter of law, but timeliness on the part of the Division is a joke? Shouldn't the Division be accountable on this in some way? I'll be accountable for being late, which is as it should be. It should be a two-way street.

Update: The hearing was delayed by 40 minutes, because one Election Commission member failed to arrive on time. Yep- we get fined for being late, the Commission or the Division is late? Laughs.

At any rate, being that this was my first time before the Commission, it was moved and passed that my fine should be reduced from the proposed $1,000 to $250, plus $2.50 postage costs.

The late filing was my mistake, so I want my supporters and contributors to know that the fine will be paid by me, out of my pocket. Your contributions will not be used to pay for my rookie mistake.

Election Follies, Part Five

After introducing the reader to four minor irritants caused by our election laws, now we come to a serious malady, as inflicted by the Elections Division. Observe this slap in the face, as delivered by the Legislature, via the Elections Division.

About 12 Libertarian candidate have had their candidacies declared invalid.

Are they felons? No. (Then again, a felon can still run for Congress...)
Have they made misleading statements with their filings? No.
Have they failed to file their papers? No.
Have they accepted a bribe? No.
Have they made threats against voters or opposition candidates? No.

So, what horrible crime have they committed against the people of Indiana? Nothing at all. They were bounced on a technicality. From the letter to the Libertarian Party of Indiana, from the Elections Division:

After their state convention, the LPIN was authorized by state statute to nominate candidates for offices listed in IC 3-8-4-2 and IC 3-8-4-10 if the LPIN did not nominate candidates for those offices at their state convention. IC 3-13-1-20 proscribes the process for filing these vacancies and provides, in relevant part:

"A candidate vacancy that exists following the convention of the party shall be filled by the state committee of the political party.... The chairman of the state committe shall file a notice of intent to fill the candidate vacancy with the official who is required to receive a certificate of candidate selection under section 15 of this chapter, The notice must be filed not later than ten (10) days before the chairman fills the candidate vacancy. (emphasis added)"

The "notice of intent to fill the candidate vacancy" described in IC 3-13-1-20 is a filing subject to SECTION 3 of House Enrolled Act 1011, which enacted a new statute, Indiana Code 3-5-4-1.9, that became effective March 23, 2006.

In other words, the Legislature passed a law that was designed to trip us up, and succeeded.

Glad that Indiana Legislature is hard at work for us, aren't you? They sure made the democratic process a thing for the rest of the world to behold here, didn't they? Let's show those people in Iraq how it's done!

My first reaction was that I wanted to be shown in writing that the other parties we held to the same standard. I'm not interested in getting their candidates bounced unless the IED positively refuses to acknowledge our candidates, in which case, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. But really, I want leverage by which the parties who wrote this mess would pull the members of the Division aside and say to them, "Hey look, we stand to lose a whole lot more candidates than the Libertarians do, so make this disappear". Alas, Dave Washburn of Hendricks County pointed out that the new sections of law were directed specifically at the Libertarian Party, without naming the Libertarian Party.

Specifically, IC 3-8-4-10 and IC 3-10-2-15 include only those parties which win 2-10% of the SOS race.

There is only one party in Indiana that this applies to. The Libertarians.

We never had to do this notification before. It was just one more hoop placed in front of the Libertarian Party, and we missed it. Some of the now disqualified candidates were going to supply the only opposition to an otherwise unchallenged incumbent. A real service this bureaucracy provides to the people of Indiana.

Can you imagine what it would be like if Coke and Pepsi wrote all the laws regarding the manufacture of soft drinks? That would be called collusion. With our elections, the Republicans and Democrats write the election laws. Why isn't that called what it is? It is collusion.

And, what about due process and equal protection under the law? Apparently, if Republicans and Democrats collude to exclude a minor party, those arcane notions can sail right out the window. Here's the final slap in the face from the Division:

To be sure, the division is bound by our laws, as we are a nation of laws. Unfortunately, in this case we do not agree with your interpretation with respect to how the law applies to the facts of this case. In any event, we certainly respect the right of the LPIN to disagree and seek redress in our courts.

Don't you love that high and mighty tone? These appointed, unelected directors of the Elections Division making pronouncements like this, disenfranchising these candidates and the constituencies they represent- no matter the size. And at once stating that the law is the law, and yet it is their interpretation that carries the day. The phrase 'arbitrary and capricious' comes to mind. This utterly lacks integrity.

Going to court over something like this is a joke- a bad joke. I have seen the Libertarian Party of Ohio deal with similar nonsense many times. Oh, they've won every case against their state, it's just that the case gets decided in December or January. Oh! Is that too late for you to get on the ballot? Oh, that's a shame!

Where do I fit in?

I believe that these candidates belong on the ballot. There is no good justification for excluding American citizens from the ballot at a time when we have soldiers dying in Iraq, fighting to give the Iraqis what we ironically lack here in Indiana- full minority party representation at the ballot box.

When I am elected Secretary of State, I will use the authority of that position, as Indiana's chief elections officer, to review and scrutinize the election code for fairness, to educate the people of our state of the inequities in the law directly and via the media, and to use the position to lobby the Legislature to strip unfair portions of the law away.

This is what a Secretary of State interested in integrity and accountability does. It is what a Secretary of State who believes in fairness does. It is what I will do.

Parade Brigade Marches On!

Even though I was slowed down by a rather pesky kidney stone, Kole's Parade Brigade still marched on in Elkhart Sunday afternoon, at the 4-H Fair.


Thanks to Rick Bowen for the picture, and my apologies to everyone in Elkhart County who hoped to welcome me there. I'll be back for the Millersburg parade on Saturday, August 19th!

Election Follies, Part Four

Perhaps you've heard, but there was a bit of a mess for Libertarians in Hancock County this year. It's hard to understand exactly what happened, because four quality candidates, including Phil Miller, Jennifer Bradshaw, and Tom Lake, all tried to file as Libertarians, were rejected by the Hancock County Clerk, turned to the Democrats and filed as Ds, with no objection from the Clerk.

Same people, different label, different result.

Now, it could be that Phil Miller is a scary name for a Hancock County Republican to observe on a Libertarian ballot. In 1999, Libertarian Miller ran for Greenfield City Council and won, defeating an incumbent who happened to be the Republican County Chair. Perhaps running as a Democrat is seen as a great albatross around the neck of Miller and the gang, whereas Libertarians have proven themselves able to dethrone powerful Republicans.

It's a pretty tough story to follow. I'm not sure I understand it completely yet, but here goes.

The Hancock County Libertarians held their county convention, but did not nominate any candidates at that convention. Instead, they chose to file post-convention, so that their candidates would be filed late in the filing period, so as not to give other parties time to react and file.

When the completed paperwork for the four candidates was presented to the County Clerk, Phil was told that their candidacies were invalid, because it was too late for post-convention nominations, and they used the wrong form. Panicked and desperate to keep four good candidates on the ballot, Miller contacted the chair of the Democrats and asked if they would accept him and the three others. After short deliberation, the Democratic Chair agreed to permit it.

Riddle me this- If it was too late for a Libertarian post-convention filing, why was it not too late for a Democratic post-convention filing? The deadlines for all three parties are the same! Also, if the Libertarians used the form the County Clerk supplied, why are the Libertarian candidates held accountable and not the Clerk? I would argue that the Clerk ripped off the people of Hancock County, and should be fined by the Indiana Elections Division. Tom Lake's letter to the Indy Star has more details.

Although these events have received scant press coverage, mainly in the Greenfield Recorder, there was a letter in today's Sunday Star:

Does anyone else find it odd that the Libertarian Party was not allowed to run candidates because of problems with forms and deadlines, but after they were denied, those same candidates were allowed to run as Democrats? We obviously have some problems with our election laws.

I constantly hear people complaining about having to vote for the "lesser of two evils." Maybe if we didn't have such prejudiced laws the voters could have more choice on the ballot and vote for someone they actually like.

Karen Valiquett
Indianapolis

I know the Libertarian Party is officially classified as a "minor party", but I don't recall reading in the code where we would have to suffer arbitrary dismissal from the ballot because of it. L's do one thing and are disqualified. D's do the same thing and are a-ok. Yes, Karen. I do find it odd.

In fact, it raises a larger issue- Why are we keeping people interested in running for public office off the ballot on the political label of their first choice?

There is an awful irony here that while we have American troops in Iraq, ostensibly fighting to establish a more democratic government with free elections and minority party representation, here the Indiana election laws, and the interpretations made by the County Clerks and the Elections Division, make it so we have fewer parties on the ballot than the Iraqis now have.

The quote from Secretary of State Todd Rokita about multi-party elections was therefore curious, when he told the Indy Star:

"We have to have some parameters, or we'd be like some country in West Africa with 18 different parties on the ballot."

What's wrong with having 18 different parties on the ballot? What's the harm? Why should the State's chief elections official object? The purpose of a political party is to advance a particular political point of view. I would find it amazing to think that even 18 parties could reasonably well represent each voter to his satisfaction. That's the point of free elections and representative government- that any point of view can be carried to the ballot, and then the voters as a whole decide if that viewpoint carries the day. If a party can't carry the day, they fail to be elected. But, everyone has had the chance to vote for those parties, and nobody was silenced.

Neither the County Clerks, nor the Elections Division, nor Todd Rokita, nor the Legislature have any business limiting the number political parties on the ballot. What purpose does it serve to keep minor parties off the ballot, other than to preserve the power of the two dominant parties?

Ah. Of course.