BOISE, Idaho — Lots of literature landing in inboxes ahead of the election, however, one about the Ada County Jail bond, has some asking about the PUBLIC INTEGRITY IN ELECTIONS ACT. KTVB asked Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane to explain.
“It's actually a relatively new statute that the legislature passed, really prohibiting the use of public funds for political activity or other things, the things that probably many of your viewers who are calling in are expecting and saying, you know, you can't promote yourself as a candidate for office using public funds, for example,” McGrane said.
That extends to government entities, like Ada County, using public funds to promote a bond item. That includes mailers, text messages and websites. All utilized by Ada County. But, there is a caveat in the law.
“As it relates to this, there is an exemption. There's a series of exemptions in the Public Integrity and Elections Act, and one of them is allowing districts who are working on bonds or levies to provide educational information, including the expected tax impact of any bonds or levies that will be put on the ballot before a voter,” McGrane said.
The jail bond mailer does include an in-depth analysis of the tax impact to the community.
“I think that's where this fits in. And you can see where the Ada County Sheriff's Office, I think, is attempting to do some of that education with the materials that they provided out there. But when it comes in a slick form that looks like a campaign mailer or something else, I think that does raise some questions like if you experience,” McGrane said.
The informational mailer seems to play it safe with language but the verb ‘need’ for example can seem bias depending on context.
“I think this is one of the big questions and it's one of the challenges. Particulate bonds and levies. And you can see over the history the legislature has struggled with where to draw this line. And similarly, districts have struggled. And I think we're seeing that here with Ada County in terms of what is the line, in terms of what's acceptable and what's not acceptable,” McGrane said.
To be clear, Ada County meets requirements of the informational flyer. There is major nuance though.
“I think this is an example of that, where it does appear they're getting very close to the line. They're not on any of the materials I've seen, whether it's the website, the mail or others saying vote for specifically. But they're certainly providing information that probably lends a voter to at least be more aware what's going on in the jail. And I can see why some people have concerns in terms of does it get a little too close to that line,” McGrane said.
Ada County confirms they sent the informational flyer out and paid for it. Their information also includes steps the county has taken to use alternative sentencing for inmates as a way to cut down on the jail population.
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