Oooops, busted. I’m pretty sure she did this in 2009 as well because I remember having the discussion about if she was allowed to do it, but we didn’t pursue it.
Apparently, on election day, Alder Bridget Maniaci broke the law.
THE LAW
7.41(1)
(1) Any member of the public may be present at any polling place, in the office of any municipal clerk whose office is located in a public building on any day that absentee ballots may be cast in that office, or at an alternate site under s. 6.855 on any day that absentee ballots may be cast at that site for the purpose of observation of an election and the absentee ballot voting process, except a candidate whose name appears on the ballot at the polling place or on an absentee ballot to be cast at the clerk’s office or alternate site at that election. The chief inspector or municipal clerk may reasonably limit the number of persons representing the same organization who are permitted to observe under this subsection at the same time.
THE INCIDENT
From the clerk:
See incident #8 for Ward 40 documented by the Chief Inspector: “Bridget Maniaci registered as an election observer and saw 22 pages of the election book before we recognized who she was. She did not interact with voters and immediately left, after having been here for 40 minutes.”
WHAT TO DO
From the city clerk:
I just talked to an election specialist at the GAB, and he said that the only person with any enforcement authority after Election Day would be the District Attorney. On Election Day itself, the Chief Inspector has the authority to remove someone from the polling place, and the Police Department would be called if the candidate refused to leave.
It’s my understanding that an Election Official from Ward 40 requested the same information and may be following up with the District Attorney.
The facts alleged do not support an accusation of illegal electioneering. Note that Alder Maniaci did not interact with or attempt to influence the votes of the voters at the polling site.
It’s highly irresponsible (and borderline libelous) to have a large boldface headline and twitter post accusing someone of illegal activity, when even the post in question doesn’t back up the claim.
Read the law again, it says anyone except the candidate can be an observer. Apparently, Paul Skidmore was also asked to stop talking to people in line to vote (closer than 100 feet) and it happened at more than one place.
I did read the law she is alleged to have violated. I also read the law on electioneering (12.03). The actions Maniaci is alleged to have engaged in don’t meet the definition of electioneering, which is an attempt to influence voting.
No one can attempt to influence voters within 100 feet of a polling location, not just candidates. The fact that Skidmore was a candidate is irrelevant.
The presence of an elected official in itself can be interpreted by the voter as intimidating.
This is not the first incident of her disregard for following boundaries and ethics that benefit District 2 and by now after seeing her pattern of behavior we know it won’t be the last.
Taken as a single issue, it could seem harmless; taken as a whole of her style of Donald-Trump-self-promotion politics it reaks of what’s to come if we don’t vote her out of politics next time. We have a governor who used the same kind of bullying tactics on his rise in gov’t not to question Alder Maniaci with her pattern of disregard for the law is allowing her potential climb to do real harm in the future to larger populations.
http://savetheoldcity.livejournal.com/
Hey Brenda,
If you’d like to have this discussion, then I’d like to open up the fact that Sam Stevenson was at Ward #39 during the counting of the ballots at the end of the evening, and it was brought to the attention of the Chief Inspector. Sam was also asked by the Chief Inspector to move away from Ward #38 where he was campaigning within 100 feet. There should be records of it on the chief inspector’s polling report. This also goes along with the photos I shot of him with his yard sign in James Madison Park and illegally in the median of the road on Gorham Street. His campaign also taped fliers to city poles, which I believe according to 31.045(3)(c)is a fine of $100 plus fees, per occurrence, and I have pictures of those.
I was not aware that my presence was not allowed to register as an election observer. I went through the formal process and went through the chief inspector at the ward to do so. If he improperly allowed me to register, then that’s something for the city clerk to clarify with chief inspectors moving forward.
1. My understanding is that there is no restriction that I am aware of after the polls close, its the presence while people are voting that is at issue. And for me, that is the real concern.
2. Would it have made a difference if he was holding the sign instead of using wires to hold it up while he was there?
3. Nothing appears in the elections officials logs about Sam being too close to the polling place. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6V2LGnxfL3bMTI0ODhkODktZjczMi00ODlhLWIxYWEtZTZiOGI1YTM0NTcx&hl=en
4. So, its ok for you to break the law if they don’t catch you or you don’t know about it?
NOTE: Anonymous comments not allowed.
No notes about Sam in ward #39 either.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6V2LGnxfL3bYWYwZDY5ODgtNjU5YS00ZjA3LWE5MjMtZjZjYTUyMzBkZGVh&hl=en
Hey Bridget,
You should of taken this offline. You are a public figure voted in by a majority of your peers. Talking back online is something a high schooler would do. And why did you think it would be ok for you to be an observer during you own election? Seriously?
What does observing 22 pages of the election book mean?
What the significance of the action?
It means having someone on your campaign team go and watch as the election officials flip through the book and tell you who voted. What she was doing was comparing that to her list of supporters list. It’s smart to do that late in the afternoon on election day cuz then you can go knock on their doors or call them and remind them to vote. That’s not a bad thing, good campaigns do that. The fact that the candidate was sitting in the polling place for 40 minutes while people were getting their ballots was the problem.
I’m not saying what she did was OK, but the evidence at hand suggests that it was an innocent mistake, not some nefarious plot. She signed in with the inspector as Bridget Maniaci from the Friends of Bridget Maniaci Campaign, and left without complaint when she was made aware of the violation.
Your use of such loaded language–“ooh busted” or “It’s okay if you don’t get caught” or erroneously referring to her actions as “electioneering”–is really uncalled for.
I agree, Greg. I think candidates should be more aware of the rules but I do not think the Maniaci was abusing the voters. There’s no indication she was interfering or pushing.
And so, I think Brenda’s post is more dramatic than necessary. A good review of election rules would be nice and, for sure. Brenda is well qualified to provide that.
I think the “gotcha” tenor is unnecessary and ill advised. At some point I really hope Brenda runs for council again. I would like people to think she’s big picture. Mostly what I read here is negative.
When you post 2 – 8 things per day, you’re bound to make someone unhappy. I don’t think my posts are mostly negative, they are mostly informational. The problem is, when I post about Maniaci, then everyone is a critic. If this would have been about any other alder, would people be so critical? Maniaci got a pass for the last two years from me – believe it or not. No more. She’s no longer a newby.
Once you have the falling direction planned out, you should climb up the tree and tie two long ropes near the top. Anchor them on the opposite side of the one that you want it to fall towards. This will allow you to adjust the direction the tree is being lowered in, just in case it starts leaning towards anything it could destroy.