Dem chair under fire for alleged student voting 'bounty'

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 "œfriends" 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