With political signs on roadways and intersections, and the clock running between now and Election Day, town of Ballston campaigning is well under way.
Now, members of the town’s Republican party are claiming Democratic candidates are breaching fair campaign practices.
At issue are logos that resemble party symbols, Web site domains, and whether one sign was placed before the 45-day limit. The town’s Republican committee chairman, Alan Colyer, filed three complaints with the Fair Campaign Practices Committee, calling the political ads misleading. The committee is overseen by the Saratoga County League of Woman Voters. The complaints were lodged against the Ballston Democratic committee and town supervisor candidate Patti Southworth.
We all know that campaigns can get heated, but we are making every effort to stick to the issues that impact the town of Ballston, said Colyer. `It is unfortunate that local politics, where we are all neighbors, has come to this kind of trickery.`
The complaints include the use of what appeared to be a copyrighted Republican elephant symbol on Southworth’s campaign signs; a link from the www.ballstongop.com domain to the Democrats’ Web site; and a political sign reportedly posted earlier than the 45-day moratorium as stated in town code.
`The use of Republican symbols and the Web site name is a blatant attempt to make Ballston voters believe that the Democratic candidates have the support of the Republican Party or that these individuals are actually Republicans,` said Colyer. `Linking a Web site domain name that appears to be connected to the Republican committee by the Democratic committee is misleading, purposely fraudulent and borders on identity theft.`
The town’s Democratic chairman, Patrick Southworth, husband of Patti Southworth, said he was disappointed by the level of animosity in the complaints.
`Many of these things have already been taken care of,` said Southworth. `What’s happening here is they’re trying to distract from the real issues.`
Southworth said the elephant logo on some of the signs does not replicate the copyrighted Republican symbol, and that the signs weren’t printed or placed by Democratic committee members.
`It’s a totally different graphic, and the signs are on the property of registered Republicans,` said Southworth. `Last year, there were Democratic signs supporting (town council member and Republican) Mary Beth Hynes out around town, but we let it go and didn’t complain because it was basically a petty issue.`
As for the complaint about signs placed too early, Southworth said the sign in question is a billboard on Route 50, which falls outside the town code for placing lawn campaign signs.
`We’ve already spoken with the town attorney weeks ago, and we were told we hadn’t violated any ordinances because it’s a permanent billboard,` said Southworth.
The Web domain `ballstongop` is a site owned by David Stern, who is the Web administrator for the Democratic Party, as well as other clients, including some Saratoga County Republican parties. Stern said he has owned the site since 2005.
`This site was established long ago, and no one took issue with it until now,` said Stern, a computer consultant whose company is called A Little Help Computer Services. `If they had any objection, they could have brought it up anytime.`
Stern, who has run for town positions in the past, said he supports the Democratic candidates, but besides updating their Web site, he has nothing to do with the campaign.
`I’m an independent person, and I’m allowed to own the Web name, just like I own dozens of domains,` said Stern. `I think the Republicans are nervous, and I was treated badly in 2005 when I ran, so this doesn’t surprise me at all.`
Stern said he disengaged the Web site link the same day, he heard of the complaints after being contacted by a newspaper reporter rather than the Republican committee members.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, Barb Thomas, League of Women Voters chair and Fair Campaign Practices contact person, said the paperwork by Colyer had not yet been properly filed.
`There hasn’t been an official filing of a complaint,` said Thomas. `They didn’t know the rules, and that they had to go online and follow a procedure, such as sending the Southworth campaign a certified copy.`
Colyer said he intends to re-file the complaints shortly, but Thomas said she isn’t certain the committee is the right venue to pursue the issues.
`Some of the issues, from what I see, aren’t complaints and should be handled between the party committees,` said Thomas. `I’ll have to consult with our attorney on this.`
Decisions by the Fair Campaign Practices Committee come without legal ramifications. Last year, in the race for a town council seat, Patti Southworth filed complaints with the committee against Hynes for messages on political fliers. The committee ruled in favor of Southworth in three of the cases. “