Virginia Democrats Offer Free Beer to Voters, Shocked to Find Out It’s Illegal…

[darrels joy]

Virginia Democrats Offer Free Beer to Voters, Shocked to Find Out It’s Illegal…


You’re doing it wrong, the only way to get people to vote Democrat these days would be to get them drunk before voting. Bonus: Even with the offer of free beer, not one person showed up, that’s how far the Democratic party has fallen…

(Politico)- A Virginia Democratic organization appears to have violated federal election law by offering free beer to voters.

The Arlington Young Democrats held a happy hour last week at which they offered “a free drink and some appetizers” to anyone who brought an “I Voted” stick to prove that he or she had voted early in Virginia, according to a flier.

“In elections in which federal candidates are on the ballot, no one can offer any kind of benefit or reward for voting. The simple way to deal with this is to open up the event to all comers — voters and nonvoters alike,” Loyola Law professor and election law expert Rick Hasen wrote POLITICO in an e-mail. “This is a very common problem, because people believe they are doing their civic duty by encouraging other people to vote. And in many states, in elections when federal candidates are not on the ballot, this activity is perfectly legal.”

Corporations such as Starbucks and Ben & Jerry’s ran afoul of this law in 2008 and complied by offering freebies to everyone rather than just voters.

“We did have a get-out-the-vote happy hour” Young Dems president Gordon Simonett said. But the group said they were not aware that they were running afoul of any laws and held similar events in 2008 and 2009.

Simonett said that “zero people came by” with voting stickers and only a handful of poll volunteers even showed up. ”Turnout was not what we expected,” Simonett said. (The offer is illegal, Hasen said, even if nobody takes it up.)

A GOP group blasted the effort anyway.

“The Arlington Young Democrats knew they may have to pull all the stops to help Moran across the finish line, including offering a free drink and food in violation of the law,” said Michael Thielen, executive director of the Republican National Lawyers Association. “This is just another sign of what scared Democrats will do.”

http://weaselzippers.us/2010/10/29/v...t-its-illegal/