Candidates illegally electioneering at polls: Democrats Mary Peltola, Bill Wielechowski, Ted Eischeid

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The Creekside Elementary School polling location in Muldoon election workers responded to complaints this morning about campaigns that were illegally electioneering right in front of the school entrance.

A 250-foot string was taken by election workers to measure the distance, and the campaign signs for Mary Peltola for Congress, Bill Wielechowski for State Senate, and Ted Eischeid for State House — all Democrats — were all removed. They had been placed directly across the street from the polling place.

“During the hours the polls are open, a person who is in the polling place or within 200 feet of any entrance to the polling place may not attempt to persuade a person to vote for or against a candidate, proposition, or question, Alaska Statute reads. “A person commits the offense of campaign misconduct in the third degree if…the person is within 200 feet of an entrance to a polling place, and violates AS 15.15.170; or circulates cards, handbills, or marked ballots, or posts political signs or posters relating to a candidate at an election or election proposition or question.”

64 COMMENTS

    • Now think about how bad they are in their personal lives. Every progressive I’ve known is a text book sociopath.

    • Peltola has run a dirty race and needs to be held to the legitimate rules of the election. She needs to concede and the election needs to be re-voteD. Just because she is native doesn’t mean that she gets off. Am sure that since the natives on the west coast aren’t smart enough to figure out how to cast a ballot, that the feds had to come in to ensure voting processes were legal… am sure that Peltola started that band wagon! Voter suppression my a**! No way in hell that a native with NO EXPERIENCE besides fish…qualifies for Congress! She is a token… no doubt that her agenda will be natives only and how much more they will squeeze out of the federal and state governments for themselves. PELTOLA IS USELESS FOR ALASKA.

      • How racist can you possibly be? You insult the intelligence of the natives while leaving no doubt that one of your greatest challenges is grammar. Petola has an extensive history of serving Alaska with ten years in the state legislature. She has served in a wide variety of offices and, of course, much of that tied in with fishing. She has more experience than most and will do a fine job.

  1. Immediate disqualification and imprisonment. If a single vote is counted for any of them the system is broken and there is no hope. Citizen arrests valid in these cases or no?

    • Seriously? The Division of Elections responded, confirmed the violation, and removed the signs. Nowhere does this post state that the candidate or campaigns place these signs. Imprisonment seems a bit steep, don’t you think? If the State can figure out who did it, then certainly prosecute them for a third degree misdemeanor.

      • I worked at a popular election precinct yesterday and someone took our big Vote sign! Really? Whatcha going to do with it? Kudos to all my election workers! We worked hard yesterday. 17 hours!! The voters were awesome and pretty polite and patriotic!!!

  2. As much as I would want to assume either malice or stupidity, this could be a simple mistake.
    .
    Do you know how wide your street is? How far is the door of your house from the road? Most people overestimate that kind of thing. They placed signs across the street from a polling place, and likely did not make any measurements.
    .
    Or, it was deliberate. I don’t know.

    • Plausible deniability, which is what Joe is counting on according to Hunter’s business partner Tony Bobolinski, or deny deny deny, until the blue dress comes out, Bill Clinton’s lasting legacy on how to respond to accusations for all future Dems to follow.

      • Since you know “they” were intentional, then you know who “they” are and it’s your responsibility to report them to the Division of Elections. Otherwise, you’re casting a lot of aspersions on the motivations of someone(s) you don’t know.

    • I agree. I used to work the polls at a Muldoon location and we always had to check the area. People may have had signs up near the school and would have simply been required to take them down on election so as not to have them within the 200′ limit.

    • It seems that a person wanting to create laws for their community should know the laws already in place.
      Ignorance is no defense.

  3. There was a bus bussing people to the Mat-Su Borough building all week for early voting with Kelly Tshibaka signs all over it. Wouldn’t that be illegal electioneering as well?

  4. Immediately after a voter informed election workers of the three campaign signs along the street in front of Creekside Elementary School, supervisory election workers removed those signs. The signs are no longer where they were earlier today.

  5. I believe that the division of elections has a responsibility to ensure that this doesn’t happen, without having to be called out on it by observant citizens.

    • Hard to do with limited government. It takes time and people—who apparently should be government employees according to your statement—and I don’t see hiring more state employees as being a popular platform for either party.

    • Let’s be the adults in the room, here.
      You are likely correct, but until we have clear evidence of wrongdoing, we must assume innocence. While investigating of course.

    • Said the republicans who put those signs up to get democrats in trouble? See? Could have been ANYONE of any party or not who put them up.

  6. Thomas Jefferson said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse in any country. If it were, the laws would lose their effect, because it can always be pretended.”

  7. Immediately after the campaign signs were reported to poll workers, the signs were removed. However, the signs were replaced with “new” signs for Wielechowski and Peltola. These “new” signs have been removed (just as the initial three signs were removed).

    • Beginning to look like deliberate enemy action here.
      Once is happenstance,
      Twice is coincidence,
      Three times is enemy action.
      – Auric Goldfinger

  8. Also right across from the entrance to he kincaid elementary school polling place parking… A baby killer Profile sign. Does she use her ulu for those abortions??

    • Arrest for third degree campaign misconduct? Don’t think that’s currently law, but maybe if you lobby the legislature this year you can get the penalty upped to a first degree felony. Maybe we could make all intentional campaign shenanigans, including deliberate misinformation peddling, felony offenses. And if you make them capital offenses, I imagine campaigning would change dramatically in ways we’ve never seen. I’m probably persuadable to this after all.

  9. Let me be preemptive as to KTUU’s or …….what’s the name of that new paper in Anchorage’s take on this.
    ( knowing that it’ll never be mentioned)
    “ there’s absolutely no proof of electioneering “

  10. Some people must be really bored to whine about this. People with no real jobs and nothing else to do, I expect.

  11. I understand and can appreciate posting a story about nefarious campaign activity, but aren’t these campaign signs in individual’s yard (i.e., private property)? So now people who happen to live with 250 feet of a polling location don’t have the same first amendment rights as someone who lives 300 feet away? I would have thought that lovers of liberty and the constitution would be screaming in outrage that these neighbors of theirs were having their rights trampled.

  12. Come on Susan…in the article you indicate that the string used to measure the distance from the polling place to the sign was 250 feet long. then you cite Alaska Law as saying the limit is 200 feet…

    Are you assuming your readers are stupid?

    • My name isn’t Susan. Balls of string come in different lengths. I cannot explain why it was 250 feet. – sd

  13. I have a question as I do not live in Alaska. If the law says 200 feet why did election people use a 250-foot string? That would appear they improperly removed signs that were legal.

  14. Since when is a poll worker allowed to play music from their phone at a polling place in a room full of people trying to vote??? Even after a voter requested the music to be turned off because it was distracting, the request was ignored!!

  15. The length of the legal string is 200 feet so that would be a nice correction to make. You said it was 250 feet. I know you won’t share this because anything that doesn’t fit your “special vision” doesn’t make the cut. And yet, I keep hoping for some real information.

  16. How about tfg backers who worked polls and parked their politically plastered cars in front of the polls? Who then, as club instructed-purposefully wear bright Republican red while they search for your name at the polls. Concern here for them?

    • You have got to be kidding. I saw a lot of blue at the polls. I’m sure it meant something. Red, white, and blue is a trope for Republicanism. No flags allowed. Hey, the sign says “Vote here” in red. Oh no, Maureen! It’s a plot!

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