Election Mailer Causes Controversy

Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ “official sample ballot” is the envy of even the most jaded California political consultants. To other campaign experts, it’s an outrage.

Either way, the campaign mailer, a slate card that tells voters which candidates Waters is endorsing, clearly pushes the envelope of the candid and, some say, the legal.

Critics say the mailer’s red, white and blue cover is misleading to voters because its cover is an elaborate mock-up of the official sample ballot adorned with the same flag and seal design and similar type and layout.

To the unwary--or simply weary--the slate could be mistaken for the sample ballot mailed out by government elections officials.

But Waters’ mailer does include a disclaimer on each page, as well as asterisks next to the names of the candidates--Al Checchi, Cruz Bustamante, Barbara Boxer and others--who paid to be listed officially among those backed by a Democratic legislator whose influence is broad enough to encompass both the chairwomanship of the Congressional Black Caucus and a working alliance with Republican Mayor Richard Riordan.

“It’s really outrageous,” said Robert Stern, a former chief counsel for the state Fair Political Practices Commission and one of the drafters of California’s political reform law. “I’ve never seen anything as close to the sample ballot like this. You shouldn’t be allowed to make it look like an official document.”

However, laws aimed at preventing such practices are “very squishy,” said Stern, who is widely considered to be the expert on California campaign reform. “If it’s not against the law, there will be some legislation introduced to make it against the law,” Stern said. “You can’t mislead voters like this. It just gets too confusing.”

Rick Taylor, a Los Angeles political consultant, sums up the opposing view. It was one of his former partners who helped create Waters’ slate in the early 1990s, and he thinks other political experts are irked that they didn’t think of it themselves.

“I think it’s one of the best slates out there, one that most of us consultants would be envious of and would like to have our names attached to,” Taylor said. “Let’s tip our hats to somebody who does something very effective. Usually the people who complain loudest are the people who aren’t on it.”

Shirley Washington, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office in Sacramento, said their attorneys cannot rule on the legality of the mock ballot until they receive an original copy. All they had Tuesday was a fax.

“The language contained in the disclaimer on the outside does appear to comply with the Elections Code, but they need to determine whether the size of the disclaimer is in compliance,” Washington said.

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Until the office receives a copy, she said, “We cannot make the determination of whether it is in violation of any Elections Code or not.”

Waters’ staffers say that raising the issue is beating a dead horse. Karen Waters, the congresswoman’s daughter and her contact person for campaign activities, did not return repeated calls seeking comment.

Waters, who represents L.A.’s 35th District, first mailed a version of the mock ballot in 1992. And so far, the mailer has endured state scrutiny. One of its creators, who spoke on condition of anonymity, asked not to says that it even has been reworked to mirror changes in the real ballot sent out by the county clerk’s office.

Candidates clearly view the mailer as a good investment.

The Checchi for Governor campaign spent $50,000 to be included; the campaign to elect Bill Lockyer attorney general paid $15,000.

The Bustamante for Lt. Governor campaign spent $5,000. So did opponents of Proposition 227, which seeks to replace bilingual education with one-year English immersion. And so did the campaign to elect Bill Baker sheriff of Los Angeles County.

Colleen McAndrews, a political and election lawyer who also served on the Fair Political Practices Commission, said one of the reasons such practices endure is that legal oversight bodies lack laws with sufficient teeth to prevent misleading elections practices.

“This is a difficult area. I think the secretary of state would like to have tools to prevent this type of false and misleading campaign document,” said McAndrews, a partner in a law firm that represents the Lungren gubernatorial campaign and other Republican political campaigns that contrast with Waters’ Democratic platform. “They’re skating pretty closely. It really crosses the line of misleading the voters.”