Pressure is mounting on Athens County Democratic Party Chair Susan Gwinn to step down from her seat, in the wake of allegations that she and the county party encouraged a program where Ohio University student Democrats would receive a bounty for bringing “friends” to the polls for early voting last Friday.

The latest shot came Wednesday, when Athens City Law Director Patrick Lang submitted a Reader’s Forum to The Athens NEWS calling on Gwinn to resign.

In the op-ed, Lang, a Democrat, criticized Gwinn for even discussing a program to pay students to vote, calling it “cynical.” He concluded his piece: “We are as far away from the next general election as we can get. Now is the right time for a selfless act for the party, like so many Susan has made in the past. She should step aside, at least until such time as her name is cleared.”

Lang’s call followed widespread criticism of Gwinn and the county Democratic Party for a controversial get-out-the-vote program that came to light Friday in an e-mail from OU College Democrats Vice President Kellie Galan. In her message to club members, Galan urged them to join in a march to the polls Friday for early voting: “If you have not voted yet, please come on out and bring some friends in the same situation… Remember, if you bring a friend from 4th ward they are more than a friend, they’re 5 bucks!”

Since then, Galan and another College Democrats member have stated that the money wasn’t a bounty, but rather an “incentive” to get volunteers out canvassing for votes.

Nonetheless, Galan’s e-mail has provoked responses far and wide, shaken up the political blogosphere, made state and national news, drawn accusations of “vote-buying” from county and state Republican leaders, brought Gwinn strong criticism from the leader of the state party, and prompted an investigation by Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren. (After the print deadline for this article, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern issued a news release, demanding that Gwinn resign. See our story prepared after the print deadline.

Lang’s call for Gwinn’s resignation on Wednesday was the strongest criticism yet from a local Democratic office-holder, though county party Treasurer Lenny Eliason also criticized the get-out-the-vote payment program.

Republican Randy Morris, the losing candidate in Athens’ only contested City Council race, said Wednesday morning that he plans to file a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission if nobody else does. The Fourth Ward race with Morris and winner Christine Fahl was the one that College Democrats VP Galan had referenced in her get-out-the-vote e-mail.

While party chair Gwinn hasn’t returned calls to The Athens NEWS, she did release a statement Tuesday in which she strongly denied any voter fraud or vote-buying.

“At no time has either myself or anyone in the local Democratic Party suggested that voters would be paid to vote in (Tuesday’s) election. No money has ever been paid to someone to vote or will be paid to someone to vote. The suggestion that there was a plan to pay voters is unfounded. To suggest that such illegal activity was planned by either College Democrats or the local Democratic Party is ludicrous.”

In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, Gwinn repeated those sentiments, though she did acknowledge that “discussions” were held about paying student volunteers for a get-out-the-vote program but that it never went into effect.

THE COLLEGE DEMOCRATS appeared stunned by the whole turn of events, and on Monday made it clear that any plan to pay members for canvassing work came from the county party. Chris Mullen, communication director for the College Democrats, said that Galan’s e-mail has been misconstrued, and that nobody intended to offer anyone money to vote.

In a follow-up news release late Monday night, Mullen seemed to lay the blame for the get-out-the-vote payments on the county party.

“The GOTV (get-out-the-vote) program that has triggered the false reports was an effort by the Athens County Democratic Party to compensate volunteers financially for their time spent canvassing,” Mullen wrote. “This program was sponsored by the county Democratic Party, and was not originated by the College Democrats.”

He stressed that the OU College Democrats have not raised or spent any money to pay volunteers. “To date in this election cycle, no member of the group has received a dime for his or her canvassing work,” Mullen wrote. He said any questions about the program should be directed to Gwinn.

As this story developed earlier this week, it became clear that interested parties were talking about two very different things.

For instance, Athens County Republican Party Chair Pete Couladis issued a release Monday night asking the county Board of Elections and county prosecutor to investigate what he described as an offer by the College Democrats to pay people to vote. “If money was being paid or offered by the College Democrats to college students or anyone else to vote, this is a serious violation of Ohio’s election laws,” Couladis wrote.

The state Republican Party issued a strongly worded press release Tuesday afternoon saying the same thing, and demanding that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland condemn Susan Gwinn for voter fraud and “offering cash for votes.”

Ironically, Gwinn herself, in her statement, reacted specifically to those charges, even though everybody else involved in this situation appears to agree that Galan’s controversial e-mail suggested paying a $5 bounty to volunteers for bringing in voters, rather than paying voters themselves.

In fact, county Prosecutor Warren made it clear Monday that his office “is still looking at the issue” of paying bounties to canvassers to see whether anything illegal was done.

Others, including local and state Democratic Party leaders, aren’t concerned about possible vote-buying either, but rather about the program that appeared to have offered bounties to student Democrats for bringing in voters.

The county party’s treasurer, Eliason, said Tuesday morning he had no knowledge of any get-out-the-vote programs involving payments to canvassers until he heard about the e-mail from the College Democrats Monday night. He said no money for the effort was coming through the county party.

“There is no money that’s been approved for any of that,” said Eliason, who also serves as an Athens County commissioner. “The chair (Susan Gwinn) may have done that, but it hasn’t gone through me.”

Eliason said that he has never had any discussion with Gwinn about the get-out-the-vote effort, nor has paying anybody ever been discussed in a party meeting.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to do that sort of thing,” Eliason said. “It’s inappropriate. It doesn’t pass the smell test as far as I’m concerned. You can construe that e-mail however you want, but clearly that’s not the right way to get people out to vote.”

In an unusually strongly worded statement Tuesday morning, Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, condemned the payment program, though his statement didn’t indicate whether he was talking about vote-buying or bounties for successful canvassers.

“The Ohio Democratic Party had no role in this stupid idea, and I urge Athens County Chairwoman Susan Gwinn to suspend the program immediately and not issue any payments that may have been planned,” Redfern stated. “I call for a complete investigation and prosecution for any wrongdoing in this case.”

In his op-ed, Athens Law Director Lang referred to a story in the Columbus Dispatch about the voting “bounty” program, and referenced Redfern and Eliason’s criticism. “I agree,” he wrote and then referred to the OU student Democrats. “These talented, energetic young people are trying to improve their community and country through the political process. They are the future of the party. The fact that the party would even discuss such a cynical idea with them gets my blood boiling. And it demonstrates a stunning lack of judgment.”

THIS LATEST CONTROVERSY ONLY adds to Susan Gwinn’s troubles.

She’s currently under indictment for alleged campaign finance irregularities. She faces two felony charges of theft in office and one of felony money-laundering, along with three related misdemeanors. She has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the charges, which stem from her unsuccessful primary campaign earlier this year for Athens County prosecutor.

Athens County Democratic Party central committee members and elected office-holders have for the most part supported Gwinn, and declined to ask her to step aside while the charges are pending. Before now, they have insisted that she is innocent till proved guilty, and can still effectively lead the party.

Christine Fahl, the Fourth Ward City Council member who kept her seat in Tuesday’s election, suggested Wednesday that the fuss over the party’s payment program has been overblown.

“If you read the e-mail, I think it’s just a big misunderstanding,” she said.

When all the excitement about the election calms down, people will look at it in that light,” Fahl said. “I think when cooler heads prevail after the election and everybody thinks about it, they’re going to find that it was just a mistake.”

EARLIER THIS WEEK, as the story broke, student politicos argued about the e-mail from College Democrats VP Galan, and whether it suggested payments for voting, or getting others to vote.

OU College Republicans President Suzi Hawk contended Monday that the e-mail makes it seem like the club is paying people to vote.

“I think it’s highly unethical and illegal to do that,” Hawk said.

The Ohio Revised Code’s section on campaigns and elections strictly prohibits “advance, pay, or cause to be paid or procure or offer to procure money or other valuable thing to or for the use of another, with the intent that it or part thereof shall be used to induce such person to vote or to refrain from voting.”

The language in that ORC section doesn’t appear to proscribe paying canvassers for their get-out-the-vote efforts, but rather forbids payments to the voter himself for either voting or not voting.

Randy Morris, the unsuccessful Republican City Council candidate, however, cited another part of the ORC, which may affect this situation.

“As far as the $5 issue, I definitely think that needs to be pursued,” Morris said. “The way I read the Ohio Revised Code, it’s not legal to pay someone to encourage someone else to vote.”

He said ORC 3599.02 is the statute he believes may have been violated. That statute deals with bribery and offenses concerning voting.

“If nobody else pursues it, I will,” Morris said. “It was targeted at my race in particular. I definitely want to see that the appropriate measures are taken by the Ohio Elections Commission if someone else doesn’t.”

The applicable section reads: “No person shall before, during, or after any primary, general, or special election or convention solicit, request, demand, receive, or contract for any money, gift, loan, property, influence, position, employment, or other thing of value for that person or for another person for doing any of the following…”

One of the listed activities is “agreeing to vote or to refrain from voting.”

Hawk said if OU College Democrats were indeed paying people to vote, they should instead “find another way to entice the voters.”

In an interview Monday afternoon, College Democrats VP Galan said the e-mail’s meaning had been misconstrued. “We’re not involved in any kind of voter fraud,” she said.

Galan said the club was offering $5 to volunteers who were canvassing – doing such things as walking door-to-door and offering voters rides to the Board of Elections – for Election Day.

“The $5 is more of an incentive for volunteers,” Galan said.

In an interview Monday, Mullen of the College Democrats echoed Galan, saying that allegations of the club committing voter fraud are “absolutely false.”

He said the club was “compensating volunteers for their time.”

In his release later Monday night, Mullen went a step further, suggesting that such allegations amount to libel against the College Democrats. “Any implication that any member of our organization has been involved with paying voters is false, unfounded and potentially libelous, as it incorrectly asserts illegal activity on the part of the College Democrats,” Mullen said. “These kinds of assertions, reported by the media, have no factual basis, and are based on statements misunderstood and taken out of context.”

Mullen said the money being paid to volunteers was provided by the Athens County Democratic Party, even though party Treasurer Eliason said Tuesday that if that’s happening, he doesn’t know anything about it. — Athens NEWS Editor Terry Smith and Reporter David DeWitt contributed to this story

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Hmmmm
written by Nickels, November 05, 2009

Sounds like the democratic party here in Athens needs to have a sit down meeting to get their stories straight. Make sure it's the right one folks.

The fact that the election came down to as little as 30 votes makes this seem pretty serious to me.

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Much ado about nothing....
written by A. Random Guy, Esq., November 05, 2009

....but all the pols have to act like they give a crap. Political theater, anyone?

Y'all have seen the price of beer in this day and age, right? These kids can't even get drunk for $5 a head, let alone singlehandedly sway an election with that per-cap, certain close local races notwithstanding.

Yeah, there was a time where $5 might've been a lucrative inducement to vote this way or that; today it's hardly an inducement to get out of bed. For example, would anyone say that people are eager to earn that same amount through jury service?

As much as I very much want to see Gwinn get her comeuppance, just for the principle of it, this ain't the smoking gun people are trying to portray, and there's enough bad evidence on Gwinn herself to get her out of the local political picture as so many so clearly want. But since Gwinn has already fatally wounded her political career, why not go for more?

Mr. Couladis should be ashamed at himself for trying to rope misbegotten college kids into potential felony-level charges just to get his party some press and public sympathy. (Protip: if you're not happy with your party's amount of media coverage, you can always start your own paper. It's been done before.)

As for Mr. Redfern, way to throw your party's most motivated and active segment under the bus, brother! Strong work. The brownie points you earn today by feigning outrage to the press and the chattering classes WILL NOT be worth it when you have a hundred or a thousand fewer student staffers to man the phone lines and canvass neighborhoods come next election. (And that, as the saying goes, comes right soon.)

Who would want to volunteer for a party that'll throw you under the bus the first time you get caught doing something a senior official said was A-OK? Who would want to risk a felony record for any politician for little or no compensation? I don't care if it's Barack Obama or Jim Pancake, just to cover both ends of the spectrum, it just isn't worth it.

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GWINN NEEDS OUT
written by melissa baker, November 05, 2009

In reading several articles regard Susan Gwinn, she has also embarrassed the Democratic Party with her tactics thinking she and her "friends" will not get caught. She not only misapproprates funds in the Athens County Democratic Party but also in an estate that she is trustee of. They also need to look at her close friends that she has a hanger over. Susan Gwinn its time to RESIGN!

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An Open Letter to OU Students
written by A. Random Guy, Esq., November 05, 2009

...because my last comment didn't fully purge me of the outrage and disgust I now feel for my adopted hometown.

An Open Letter to OU Students: (Part 1 of 2)

OU Students:

You're all too bright, and too smart, to be wasting your time piddling around in the local Democrat scene. (Or the Republicans, for that matter; there's virtually no difference at the local level.) If you didn't know that before, you should double-know it now.

For starters, this county has as much chance of "going red" as Barack Obama has of winning Rush Limbaugh's Golden EIB Seal of Approval.

For another thing, haven't you caught on yet that this town's whole gimmick (and it's got only this one trick, trust and believe) is shaking loose as much of your money, energy, and talent as it can, at as low a price as it can? (And if that price is "free" and the risk is "low", so much the better...)

Haven't you noticed the way these local "public servants" eat each other alive? I thought I came from a Good Ole Boy infested town that exploited it's less-well-connected people as much as possible, but this one takes the cake.

And the funny part is that most of their little fights, spats, rivalries and battles revolve around which one of them will get to turn YOUR pockets inside-out the longest. And that goes for ALL of them, even the ones that posture about being on the side of the students or being "a voice for" the students. (Actually, ESPECIALLY the ones that posture like that: remember to watch all the angles, kids; the ones acting like they're on your side only have the most to gain by being your "friend".)

Down here, it's like Palin's Alaska....a lot of favor-seeking, gladhanding, and fake sentiment, only the stakes are even lower. Now they're trying to gin up FELONY CHARGES on some of you, and for what? A City Council race that would NOT have changed the complexion of that body in any noteworthy way? They've already got Gwinn's ass in a sling, and rightfully so; if they had an ounce of sense they'dve made her ride the rail a LONG time ago. But now they're out for YOUR asses, as well.

You want to work for CHANGE in Athens? Well, I'll tell you what to do, then: Spend as little money here as you humanly can. Avoid the damned bars, because they'll only land you in court for even more money to be shaken out of you.

Avoid any of the local businesses that aren't putting their money where their mouths are. There's a few of those, and they DO deserve your business, so be smart and keep your ears to the ground. Remember Dylan's Law: It don't take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Remember also the simple fact that there are VERY FEW businesses around here that could survive longer than a summer without YOUR patronage. Use it wisely.

And avoid all the local slumlords. Getting to party on Palmer or Mill or anywhere else is NOT worth it, because these people will spend your last dime, then trump up charges to goose you for more. Instead, get one of those nice corporate places that send their money OUT of this intellectually-inbred little backwater.

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An Open Letter to OU Students, Part 2 of 2
written by A. Random Guy, Esq., November 05, 2009

(Continued from above.)

If you were all to follow these simple guidelines, you'll see more CHANGE in this town than a thousand Obamas could bring with a million of you canvassing for him. And that change would happen so quick that it'd blow the hair off the heads of those local movers-and-shakers that still have it.

It's sad, really, because Athens is a fine little town with a lot of fine, hip, socially-conscious people. But, sadly, some people in this town get a little money in their pocket, or get a little power (what little there is to be found around here), or come to own a few ramshackle rental properties, and they change. And they're the ones that will control your destiny around here....if you let them.

It's not a new story, by any means; many or even most of you come from towns just like it, that differ only in the brand of BS they peddle. But it is disillusioning (to say the least) to see it in a town that markets itself as activist-oriented, open, liberal, and tolerant.

If this town's elite had the courage of their convictions, we wouldn't be reading today about this trifling, penny-ante story, because one and all would've made Susan Gwinn ride the rail six months ago or more, when the smell of excrement first started arising around her and her dealings.

If this town's elite had the courage of their convictions, they wouldn't promote Athens' status as a party town and OU as a party school, out of one side of their mouths while opining that drunken students that do drunken things should be punished to the fullest extent of the law out of the other. (Why this town continues to be surprised that alcohol makes people do stupid things is utterly beyond me, but in any case, the town and it's monied class continue to play the role of both pusher and policeman.)

Finally, if this town's elite had the courage of their convictions, it would take this total NON-STORY and put it in its proper perspective, place the blame where it very clearly belongs, and just be happy they have you and your money, because without it, THEY WOULD BE NOTHING. They know it, too, deep down: YOU just have to remind them.

Finally, I'll address Athens' "power elite": Five dollars. Are you people kidding? You're actually talking seriously of throwing these kids into PRISON, ruining the rest of their lives, OVER FIVE DOLLARS A HEAD?

EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU SHOULD BE TOTALLY AND UTTERLY ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES. THERE IS NO STORY, NO ELECTED OFFICE, AND NO PRINCIPLE that is worth --or can excuse-- a willingness to put, whether passively or directly, a permanent scarlet letter on young men and women that aren't even past the threshold of their careers, for a perceived crime they were talked into committing by office-holding elders.

FOR SHAME.

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It is Gwinns fault,
written by Colt, November 05, 2009

She needs out

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...
written by Nate Nelson, November 05, 2009

Wow "A. Random Guy," cynical much? Sorry, but we don't all think like you. We don't think a futile effort to bankrupt the Athens economy is the best way to seek change here. And make no mistake, it would be futile. Your advice for students to stop spending at local businesses and to stop renting from local landlords is completely unrealistic. Where else are they supposed to spend money, and from who else are they supposed to rent? Those corporate landlords you mention can't possibly house all off-campus students, and believe me, they're not all that much better than the local slumlords. Trust me, I've done slumlord and this year I've gone corporate. Pretty much the same.

As for the OU College Democrats, I think it's pretty well established at this point that blame for this whole brouhaha rests with Susan Gwinn. Have you seen Chris Redfern or Pat Lang calling for OU College Dems to be indicted? On the contrary, they're blaming Gwinn and calling for her resignation. Only Gwinn seems to be blaming the OU College Dems, and that's not really that surprising. When all is said and done, I suspect that if any serious legal repercussions are to come from this they will hit Susan Gwinn -- not the OU College Dems.

But sure, go ahead and continue embracing your useless cynicism. The rest of us will try to do something constructive.

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...
written by Hocking Hick, November 05, 2009

Had the Dems offered us $4.95, and left out the last nickle, it would have been enough.

Had the Dems offered us $4.90, and left out the last dime, it would have been enough.

Had the Dems offered us $4.75, and left out the last quarter, it would have been enough.

Had the Dems offered us $4.00, and left off the last dollar, it would have been enough.

Had the Susan Gwinn offered us a Happy Meal, and stole our frys, it would have been enough, because we are poor college kids and she is a lawyer.

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To Nate Nelson....
written by A. Random Guy, Esq., November 05, 2009

Best of luck, then, brother. Have fun. I'm GLAD you can read stuff like this and not get 100% disillusioned! I don't understand it, but I'm glad, because it's the way democracy in this country is supposed to work.

At no point did I say don't volunteer for the national-level Parties, I said don't volunteer for this County's dysfunctional version of them.

But don't say nobody warned you when one of these local charlatans leaves your butt twisting in the wind at the first whiff of scandal.

BTW: By my count, there's at least four calling for College Dem heads, or trying to shift blame there: 1.) Gwinn herself. 2.) Eliason 3.) Couladis, and 4.) Your opposition in the College Republicans.

To that number, I'd add a fifth party who is only passively enabling the transfer of blame in this case from crooked pols to student volunteers: the media, both local and statewide, that are straining so hard to maintain "neutrality" in this case that they are failing to call a spade a spade and put the responsibility for this fiasco where it clearly belongs according to any reasonable standard.

Sorry, A-NEWS and DISPATCH, but it's no violation of neutrality to assume that the senior official responsible for overseeing a controversial electoral tactic both 1.) knew about it, and 2.) singularly approved or authorized it. The buck stops where?

Instead, they're giving the senior pols --who know better and should BE better-- ample opportunity to spin this ball out of their court and back towards student volunteers. Once again, shame on ALL of you.

As for Redfern, he might not be calling for College Dem heads publicly, but you're naive if you think that his "full investigation", once put in the hands of Law Enforcement, won't find a few sacrificial lambs to go with the larger game. Redfern in this equation is like Pilate in the Bible, and he's washing his hands.....OF YOU.

I pray for your student colleagues' sake, Nate, that those charges stick only to Susan Gwinn, and not to any of you. A fourth-degree felony is no joke, and none of you are lawyers (at least, not yet.)

You might wanna Google up other such events, and see how it turned out. ProTip: the small fry always take the fall before the better-connected ones do.

As for local businesses and the local economy, it'd hardly be futile at all, nor would it require anything more than two open eyes to see which parties and interests around here benefit by courting students, and also benefit by advocating against them when "majority opinion" dictates it. It's not hard to see who's playing both sides of the street, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

And if you recall, I specifically advocated CONTINUING to patronize area businesses that DON'T abuse their relationship with the student community whenever it suits them.

All that said, best of luck and I do wish you well. Just be careful and don't put your neck out for these people, because they'll be "behind you" all the way, ESPECIALLY when the lynch mob is looking for someone to make an example of.

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At Least Morris has his Dignity!
written by Hope&Change, November 05, 2009

Randy Morris, please run as an at-large city council member! I would rather lose with honesty and dignity than win under a cloud of alleged unethical behavior. You did not lose last night Randy Morris, you won the respect of many, like Abe Lincoln after his Lincoln Douglas loss.
OU students, no one blames you for this. Being newer to Athens, you had no idea of the questionable ethics of the Athens County Democratic Party leader. Hope truth is uncovered. Remember Nixon was in trouble for the cover up more than the crime. The truth will set all of you free.

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Randy Morris lost this time, but there's always next time, if he plays this incident just right....
written by A. Random Guy, Esq., November 05, 2009

All due respect, "Hope&Change", but unless the reported turnout from the College Dems' GOTV effort was off by a factor of greater than 2.9, none of us really have anything worth talking about. Which is pretty much my central point.

Even then, we'd have to quantify the number of such voters who were actually from the 4th Ward. Short version? Yes, he lost, having fallen prey to cynically happy/shiny "what makes Athens great!" rhetoric from Ms. Fahl and her supporters.

Sorry, but this incident almost certainly did NOT change the outcome. It just didn't. Hell, Morris deserves credit for making it as close as he did, in this town, and it's a good sign that the times may very well be a'changin'.

Even better: Fahl was among Gwinn's supporters, but now is finding herself ensnared in Gwinn's scandals. Time to do the Blame Game Boogie!

While I was pulling for Morris to be the token conservative voice on Athens' council, even he conceded that his real impact would be minimal in the early goings, and I am very dismayed that he's just as willing as everyone else in the Athens political firmament to throw the College Dems under the bus in the pursuit of sweeping Susan Gwinn from the scene once and for all.

And I continue to maintain that it is absolutely disgusting to even be thinking of maybe, possibly exposing these college kids to felony charges for these lowly stakes. Let the buck stop with Gwinn.

Mr. Morris, this is not how you win the next election. The way you win the next election is by keeping this episode in your pocket for use as an invincible talking point next election, without the opposition being able to make martyrs of those comparatively innocent kids after you've helped incriminate them.

Mr. Morris, be the bigger man, and let this episode pass. Gwinn will soon be gone from the scene, regardless of the outcome in this case. And with her gone, many of her allies will fall out of favor as well. Then will be your chance, your time. And you won't need to throw a bunch of misguided college kids in jail to accomplish it.

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READ THE ELECTION RESULTS CLOSELY
written by Hope&Change, November 06, 2009

If you read the election results closely you will see Randy Morris won in the residential areas of Athens. In the student precinct Fahl won by a landslide, more than 40 votes. The students really brought her the win. Sadly, the students, don't know she is really no friend of theirs. Students were used by Fahl and Gwinn. Truth will prevail!

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...
written by anonymous, November 06, 2009

Hope and Change,
First if you read the results Fahl won in the Near East side and Morris won in the far east side. Last time I looked the near east side was residential (you know...where people live). Even where students live is "residential". If you go back and look at historical elections in this same ward the same pattern basically emerges. If you look at the number of registered republicans vs. democrats the same pattern emerges. Nothing happening here, folks...move along.

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I missed an important paragraph in the coverage....
written by A. Random Guy, Esq., November 06, 2009

...wherein State Dem Chair Redfern's spokesperson explicitly absolved the college kids of blame. Honestly, that's ALL I personally care about, was that these local turkeys were not to be allowed to ruin these kids' lives over their political drama, and that they also not be allowed to use the kids as smokescreen for their political revenge on Gwinn.

There are still no guarantees; the criminal-charges ball is still in Dave Warren's court, near as I can tell. Therefore, I call on him to follow his State Chairman's lead, and absolve the College Dems of responsibility in this matter, to set that part of this issue to rest permanently.

While I'm at it, I'd like to ask Mr. Morris to publicly absolve the College Dems of blame, just to cross my T's and dot my I's.

I do continue to think that this incident lays bare the cowardice, hypocrisy, and envy at play in the local political scene, and not just amongst the pols, but amongst other parties and people as well. The Gwinn issue should have been dealt with decisively, whether by the Party, the Press, the Public, all three, or any combination thereof, LONG before this incident. All three sectors share in the blame for that not being so.

But as long as nobody lays a rhetorical hand on those kids, I am prepared to let that go. Personally, I feel MUCH better now about how this will all shake out.

To address your comment, Hope&Change, I really don't think this GOTV effort had that kind of impact. We don't know that those 40 student votes ALL came from the canvass, nor that those 40 people were paid for their votes; in fact, all commentary from all sources seems to run to the contrary on all fronts. Between them, somebody's gotta be speaking the truth.

Nonetheless, I wish Mr. Morris well in his next run, and I do hope there will be a next run. Sometimes, the good guys don't win the first battle. That's life, and that's politics, too.

...and with that, "A. Random Guy, Esq." shall recede back into the digital webs from which he came. (Until the next time some local pol shows their arse, and tries to hem innocents up in it, that is.)

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...
written by Randy Morris, November 08, 2009

A. Random Guy,
I have no interest in throwing anyone “under the bus,” and any decision by Athens Democrats regarding Ms. Gwinn's position as chair has nothing to do with me. I merely want to ask the Ohio Elections Commission to rule on whether giving students a per-vote payment to get other students to vote is a violation of Ohio law. I believe it is, and if the OEC agrees they will reprimand those they deem responsible. If anyone in the College Democrat Club is charged with a felony I would be very surprised, but that would certainly not be my call. We're fortunate to live in one of the few states with an elections commission, and as the candidate targeted by this questionable program, I believe this issue warrants their attention.

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...
written by Randy Morris, November 08, 2009

Anonymous,
Perhaps what Hope and Change meant was that the total vote for the four precincts in Ward 4 not primarily made up of students (4-1 through 4-4) had me ahead by 12 votes. In precinct 4-5, which is almost all students, I lost 20-62, thus I lost overall by 30 votes. I’m told the precinct in Ward 3 that is primarily students had a grand total of 9 voters. Obviously then, the City Council race brought out more voters in Ward 4 than the other issues that were common to both wards. Were any of those additional voters a direct result of the $5 program? I don’t know, but neither do you. So, while no one can say the GOTV program in question cost me the election, I would contend they also cannot say it didn’t. We’ll likely never know. In my opinion, that uncertainty is unsettling in an American election and should not be ignored.

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written by A. Random Guy, Esq., November 08, 2009

If anyone in the College Democrat Club is charged with a felony I would be very surprised, but that would certainly not be my call.

You're the wronged party, if it should be proven a crime was committed. You therefore have a great deal of leeway and influence in that regard, whether by communicating directly with the appropriate law enforcement agencies or bodies, or by appearing in court at any pre-sentencing hearings for these kids. If it comes to that, I strongly encourage you to push all parties for a less-than-felony outcome.

After all, this would hardly be the first case in the history of jurisprudence where an influential elder or individual had induced somebody to commit a felony without their direct knowledge or intention to do so.

Look at it this way: these kid's first experiences in politics have now officially been eye-openers. Even if their intentions were less-than-pure, they now see what ignorance or ill-intent could cost them. That counts for a lot.

I think this incident gives you a very strong hand to play in forthcoming elections, Mr. Morris, and I continue to ask you to do what you can to make sure these kids aren't made the scapegoats by Gwinn or anyone else, and to keep that card in-the-hole for the next round.

And I do hope there is a next round, in which I wish you, as I'd already mentioned, the very best of luck.

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written by Randy Morris, November 08, 2009

A. Random Guy,
I understand your point and, based on what little information I have, I too believe felony charges against members of the College Democrat Club would be inappropriate. That said, there is now a professional prosecutor looking into the matter who will likely interview all those involved in the program. I have faith that appropriate actions will be taken. Should your fears be realized and should I be given an opportunity to influence the proceedings, I will take your advice into consideration. At this point, however, I do not share your sense that I will have (or should have) any influence on how the legal side of this will go. Thus, my interest is limited to making sure a complaint is filed with the Ohio Elections Commission at the appropriate time.

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written by You Betcha she is crooked, November 11, 2009

These things are illegal but it's Athens County.

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