Monday I got very torqued over a plan to induce low income minorities to come down to the polling place to get a free flu shot with the intent to induce people to vote. I am still quite torqued over it. It is wrong, it is discriminatory, and it is electioneering at the taxpayer expense. BUT apparently it IS NOT TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL. Since there is no direct quid pro quo exchange, only an implied one, it is not specifically black letter law illegal, just unethical as hell. I firmly believe that a case could be made in court that an implied inducement exists and a reasonable person would understand that there is an implied inducement to vote. But the law is a bit vague when it comes to the definition of “inducement”.
Here is the specific paragraph of the law: (hat tip, Deep Purple)
Texas Government Code
Chapter 556: Political Activities by Certain Public Entities and Individuals
Sec. 556.004. PROHIBITED ACTS OF AGENCIES AND INDIVIDUALS.
(a) A state agency may not use any money under its control, including appropriated money, to finance or otherwise support the candidacy of a person for an office in the legislative, executive, or judicial branch of state government or of the government of the United States. This prohibition extends to the direct or indirect employment of a person to perform an action described by this subsection.
(b) A state officer or employee may not use a state-owned or state-leased motor vehicle for a purpose described by Subsection (a).
(c) A state officer or employee may not use official authority or influence or permit the use of a program administered by the state agency of which the person is an officer or employee to interfere with or affect the result of an election or nomination of a candidate or to achieve any other political purpose.
(d) A state employee may not coerce, attempt to coerce, command, restrict, attempt to restrict, or prevent the payment, loan, or contribution of any thing of value to a person or political organization for a political purpose.
(e) For purposes of Subsection (c), a state officer or employee does not interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination if the individual’s conduct is permitted by a law relating to the individual’s office or employment and is not otherwise unlawful.
I think there is room to argue that it is a violation of the law. What do you think?
UPDATE: Matt Stiles reports that Mayor White is pulling the plug on the program because we made a big enough stink about it.
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32 Responses to “Technicalities and Right and Wrong. UPDATED”Search
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It seams to me that unless EVERY polling place offered the same free vacines, that this would be illegal. First it descriminates against me - a white female (diabetic so even in last years shortage I qualified for the vacine) with a good job, living in a good west Houston neighborhood. why would it be legal to discriminate agaist me. Also many of my neighbors are over 65 and living on thier social security. They are not the retired poor but they do not have a lot of money to blow. Why not offer them the same vacine at the polling place closest to them. (bear creek park)
This is just another democrat way to try and steal as many votes as they can.
Can you imagine selling out your vote for a damn flu shot?
SHAME on all the mindless minority drones who haul their sorry butts to this disgusting event.
I have an idea: Go to the doctor and PAY FOR YOUR OWN DAMN FLU SHOT if you want one!
…and if you can’t afford one, then YOU DON’T GET ONE! How complicated is that?
Personally I won’t get a flu shot. I don’t trust what is in the vaccines (and if everyone else gets one then who am I going to catch it from anyway?). I have never had one and only had the flu 2 times in my life, while those that I know that get one are always feeling bad for several weeks afterward and they get the flu anyway.
On the point about giving this out at polling places: I think that the fact that only select polling places (i.e. ones that are heavily democratic) would make this, at the very least, discriminatory. But we all know that if you are discriminating against the white man, then it is okay.
Don’t you know there has got to be a team of Democrat lawyers and strategist who look for loopholes to get votes. They cannot win in the “arena of ideas” so they resort to attacks, distortions and giveaways to get votes. Unless you do it (give away free flu shots) for everybody, everywhere, this smells of vote buying. Just like Vo’s countrymen tried to do with coupons for groceries for voting for, guess who??? Vo can’t win the debate with Heflin on ideas and principles so he, I mean his countrymen, revert to vote buying.
If the liberals really want to win elections, rather than free flu shots, they should give away free abortions. Think of the massive turnout of liberals that would show up for that!
We might never win another election again…
I think it is illegal, because the shots are being selectively implemented in precincts that seem to be heavily Democratic. But then again, that’s OK, because Democrats don’t advertise themselves as “moral” so immoral/unethical/illegal behavior isn’t bad when a Democrat does it.
Could you imagine how fast the iron fist of the ACLU would drop if this was happening in Republican precincts?
I guess we’ll just add it to the list:
BET
Fund for Latino Scholarship
UNCF
Omega Psi Phi
NAACP
etc
etc
etc
Those of us that can read in ENGLISH Sect 556.004 will agree with you Rorschack, that is is a violation and a convaluted one at that. To induce anyone for any reason to vote is a missuse of the public’s resources, funds, and an ethical transgression to say the least…..
It brings to light that wneh voting in an election we should know somehting about the candidate other than what they “froth” from their mouths… as you well know… what is spoken to be right or left is just being said to gain favor for the moment and the He&* with the trust and integrity, as they ahve none to begin with so therefore nothing to loose….
If I did it I’d get hung, but there again I don’t fit the “Sleeze” profile, so I can’t get away with it.
I thought the statute was clear and the way I read it this would be illegal unless it was offered at every polling place.
Personally I think they should not do it at all.
This is the same as being allowed to compaing from the pulpit of an african american church only.
I believe this is a violation of FEDERAL law — it involves distribution of public funds in a manner that discriminates by age and race. BLATANT violation. Furthermore, it unduly influences particular demographic groups to vote, without similarly offering incentives to other groups, and thereby in my opinion dilutes the voting power of all demographic groups that are not eligible for the offer. There is not doubt in my mind that this would be thrown out as discriminatory in a court of law, if not a violation of the voting rights act.
This is not just discrimination, it is downright illegal IMHO and amounts to a bribe (which is illegal in elections). To top it all off, as a minority married to an anglo, it is an insult and I won’t participate - to think that all minorities would fall for it, this is not one of those token people. I earn and pay my own way and have never taken anything for free and never will.
#6 has an idea. If every democrat goes to the poll and gets an abortion, eventually the democrats disappear altogether, sort of like the dinosaurs.
I say that we should fight fire with fire. If the democrats are going to do this, then we republicans should do it as well. Bring your ID and we will check it against the voter rolls to see who voted in the republican primary and you get your flu shot for free whether you vote in the general election or not. and only do so at say the Barbara Bush Library.
SO, explain how giving out coupons is any different.
If anyone doesn’t think there will be someone handing out Democrat propaganda and urging these people to go vote for their benevolent friends in the democrat party, spit in your hand and slap your face. You can be assured it will be setup at least 500′ from the front door of the polls. It will probably at least 501′ to 502′ from the door. These are the people that complained about Shelly what’s her name taking a whiz at a polling location? Just remember box 13, no election is lost until the right person wins.
Program is being pulled I believe. Score one for Rorschach!
great going guys, you managed to force them to pull the program - CONGRATULATIONS! you done good
great job guys ! this was the old fashioned democratic machine at work in 2006. good job throwing that junk back into the last century !
Now, they’ll have to go back to giving them a ride, a sandwich and a crack rock…..
I think the sink was the smell of a lawsuit. Got an email from the Houston Republican Chairman (mailing list) and he was adamant about this being illegal to give “freebies” away to only dinocrat areas.
Its best Bill White pulled the plug. Leave that voter’s tampering crap in Florida.
sink==stink.. where’s the speel check?
The HCGOP is taking credit for this, but when I called Tuesday morning about it. “volunteer frank” who answered the phone and assured me that Stan Stanart or someone else would call me back, said that they were aware of it (No thanks to Lone Star Times and me calling Dan Patrick Monday afternoon during his show to let him know about it.) but that they did not plan to do anything about it. Funny though after I call the DOJ, and the Sec State’s office and Dan and the HCGOP and email Matt Stiles until I’m blue in the face, suddenly Tuesday afternoon, Dan is majorly torqued and hollering about it with Jared Woodfil on the radio. My what a difference a day (and a lot of screaming and hollering) makes.
I tell ya, Bloggers get no respect…..=D
Rorschach, you might get more respect if you remembered to put your pants on when you left the house. Eveyone knows bloggers just sit around in their underwear.
Good job, it shouldn’t be about credit anyway. The important thing is that it was stopped. Were those your lawyers filing the lawsuit and putting more pressure on? My point is it takes pressure from all corners to vanquish a common enemy. I broke my arm once trying to pat myself on the back.
Thanks for your efforts, now on to the next battle!
#25, I’m not wearing pants? WHO STOLE MY PANTS!?
#25 Duhmoose: Now THAT was funny! How’d the moving go? Still got boxes laying around?
Duhmouse #25, it just so happens that I am checking the news just before bed and happen to be sitting in my underwear. So what’s the problem?
Let’s see now, this is the part where some who read this will shudder, others fantasize, and I just wish I could live up to the mental images of either one …
At least I remember my pants when I leave … usually …
Now, of course, liberals are screaming that the eeevil Repubs are taking away free stuff from the less fortunate.
Not as if they couldn’t schedule the free flu shots next week or something…
Why schedule anything? Aren’t there already community health clinics in those neighborhoods already setup to do this sort of thing?
Not to mention that most of those people are on medicare and it will pay for flu shots at any of the umpteen jillion CVS/Walgreens/Walmart/HEB/Kroger stores offering shots. It’ll even pay for Pneumonia shots which as I understand it were not being offered at the polling locations.