Electioneering accusation at the D91 polls

School District 91’s bond ultimately failed, but there was some trouble at the polls between voters. After a voter was approached on his way to polls, he felt he was a victim of electioneering by another man. That second man, denies the accusation and says he was simply asking a question.

Electioneering is strictly prohibited at voting sites by Idaho code.

“A person within a hundred feet or less that would be promoting the issue or trying to sway votes,” says Brenda Prudent, elections supervisor.

Monte McCall was walking in to vote, when he was approached by a man with a question.

“He goes, ‘Hey can I pay you for your opinion? ‘ He had a big sandwich board sign on his chest that said ‘I’ll pay for your opinion.‘ I said, ‘Sure ask me whatever you want‘ and he had a dollar bill in his hand,” McCall said.

Benjamin Stutzman says, “I asked the election officials what I should be doing and how far away I should stand to ask the question that I wanted to ask and I told them what I was going to do. Then I walked out into the parking area, well more than 100 feet away from the poll location and asked people [as they] would come up or go to leave. I would ask, first off, ‘Do I have your permission to speak to you?’ If they said no, we didn’t continue our conversation. If they say yes, then I would ask what was their most important information source that informed their decision.”

McCall said what happened next is what he considers electioneering.

“I said, ‘Well, my wife’s a teacher.’ And he goes, ‘Oh did the district tell you which way you are supposed to vote?’ and my wife is, like, ‘No, the district never said a word about it.’ And she said ‘I just think we should invest in our schools for our children’s sake because our schools are falling apart.‘ So he goes, ‘What kind of benefits do you think you’re going to get by approving the bond? Do you think you’re going to get better graduation rates? School attendance?‘ I said, ‘Less crappy schools.‘ He said, ‘Do you know that the district has been hiding $5 million dollars that could have been used to fix the schools but they’re hiding it from you to get the bond passed? ‘Then I said, ‘It sounds like you’re giving opinions, not taking opinions and I think we are going to go ahead and vote.‘“

Stutzman denies that he gave any direction on how to vote, he just asked about the sources voters used to make their decision. He says that is why electioneering does not apply.

But he does explain his use of the dollar bill.

“When I take someone’s time when my employer takes my time, I get compensated. I would hold out a dollar and ask the individuals if I could ask their opinion. I valued their opinion, value is sometimes expressed in monetary terms. I had been told that I was trying to buy a vote, for a dollar?”

Election officials did end up calling the police. Law enforcement could not determine how close Stutzman was standing to the polling office or if he went further than asking opinions.

Stutzman says he was acting as a private citizen with no group affiliation.