Union Public Schools Electioneering...AGAIN!!!

Imagine that it's primary election day again. Imagine that you are headed to the polls to cast your vote for Medlock for Mayor, or perhaps for Bartlett.  As you walk up to the polling place you see this sign.

It wouldn't just be inappropriate, it would be electioneering and it would be illegal.  But that is exactly the sign that I found on the door of my polling place today as I prepared to cast a vote for Union's School Bond.  Instead of a picture of Medlock, there was a picture of one of the proposed projects and a reminder that passage would not raise taxes. This is the sign that I found on the the door of the polling place, not 6 feet from a sign that said No Electioneering, and less than 20 feet from a polling booth. 


 
While I'll admit that this message isn't overtly pro-school bond, I think most people would agree that it there is a subtle pro-school bond message here that crosses the line. This sign wasn't just informational it was designed to persuade people to vote for the bond.  Union did the same thing last year by putting pro-bond election material feet from the polling booth. Unlike last year, I decided to make a more official stink about this clear violation of Oklahoma Law.  Unfortunately what I found was a rather uninterested and lackadaisical attitude from the Tulsa County Election Board.  Before I called, I convinced an election official at the polling place to take the sign down.  On the phone, an Election Board official suggested that if I wanted to make the complaint official, that I should put the sign back up, and wait for a county sheriff to come and take the sign down.

When I asked what would happen to the sign, I was told it would go into the trash; no paper work, no documentation, no attempt to hold the offending party responsible.  I protested by asking what would happen were I to start trying to electioneer while I was on the the phone with her, she told me she would have me arrested. The official told me that talking was worse than a sign...that signs didn't talk to people, and that probably no one even looked at the sign.

I guess that means that it is up to me to rectify this situation.  Instead of having a sheriff throw the sign in the trash, I decided to take it with me.  I plan to meet with Superintendent Dr. Cathy Burden, as well as get a statement from both local and State election officials. I'll keep you posted.