Democrat Dirty Laundry: Embattled Herseth-Sandlin Caught Trying to Buy Votes

SPIN CYCLE: Speaker Pelosi Vowed that Democrats Would Lead the “Most Honest, Most Open, and Most Ethical Congress in History”:

“Our goal is to restore accountability, honesty and openness at all levels of government. To do so, we will create and enforce rules that demand the highest ethics from every public servant, sever unethical ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, and establish clear standards that prevent the trading of official business for gifts,” (Nancy Pelosi’s “A New Direction for America,” Page 21).

RINSE CYCLE: South Dakota Attorney General Investigating Food-for-Votes Rallies:

South Dakota’s top law enforcement official confirmed Tuesday that his office is investigating whether three rallies held by Democrats last week violated state law by offering people food in exchange for a chance to cast early ballots.
The state Republican Party filed a complaint with Attorney General Marty Jackley’s office last week after reports that Democrats planned to hold “feeds” on three reservations. Democrats advertised the feeds as an opportunity for voters to get something to eat, followed by the chance to be transported by volunteers to polling places for early voting.

“The state has received various complaints about offering of food in exchange for or to induce voting,” Jackley said. “We are treating the matter under our normal procedure of accepting any information, and making further determinations as the facts or evidence may justify.”

Republicans filed similar complaints with the U.S. attorney’s office. Meanwhile, Jim Sword, the state’s attorney for Fall River and Shannon counties, sent the Department of Justice a memo outlining potential voting abuses, including an advertisement that linked a chili feed with the opportunity to vote for Democratic candidates.

U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson said Tuesday that Department of Justice policy forbids officials from discussing the existence or likelihood of an investigation. But he did say that he has met with Jackley about the issue.
The two issued a notice last week reiterating an opinion from 1998 that meals cannot be used to induce people to vote. But those opinions do not make it clear whether the officials think Democrats crossed the line with their events last week.

“The law is clear on this issue, and they were warned by both the attorney general and the United States attorney, yet they continued their food-for-votes scheme anyway,” Gray said.

To bolster their argument, Republicans released two videos of Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, one of the Democratic officials who participated in the events, speaking last week at Crow Creek and Lower Brule. In both, she implored voters to support her, and at Crow Creek, she told the attendees that they could cross the street and cast early ballots.

Herseth Sandlin has insisted that there was nothing wrong with the rallies, and she said Republicans are trying to suppress voting on the reservations. (Jonathan Ellis, “State probes voting ‘feeds,’” Argus Leader, 10/20/2010)

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