Recap: Political Advertising Compliance and Exploring Candidate Records
In the aftermath of the most recent general election in Kerrville, many statements, allegations and frustrations were expressed by a myriad of people throughout the city, mostly coming from people who’s candidate came up short at the polls. Some of the allegations were levied at this particular website so for the benefit of all, we will be clearing up some of these allegations in what will likely be the closing post for this website.
A number of supporters of Mrs. Summerlin, including the candidate herself, attempted to claim the information presented by this website was factually incorrect, taken out of context or irrelevant to City government. In reality, each issue was not only true, but was presented with supporting video or links to primary source documentation confirming the candidate’s support for the position in question.
All politicians running for office will make grandiose claims about what they would like to do in office, but when the politician has an actual track record to explore, that would seem to be the best predictor of future actions.
A secondary concern raised by some was that exposing a candidate’s record should somehow be characterized as an attack, mudslinging or dirty politics. What does it say about a candidate who feels attacked by the accurate depiction of their own record? How is a voter expected to defend, trust and vote for a candidate who refuses to take responsibility for their own record?
Lastly, some have questioned whether a website such as this, full of fact based, issue oriented documentation concerning the positions held by a particular political candidate is in compliance with the rules and laws related to political advertising. The answer is a resounding YES! it is in complete compliance.
The Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) was created in November 1991 by the state legislature to administer and enforce the laws related to a number of issues, including political advertising. The TEC defines “a communication that supports or opposes a candidate for election to a public office, and appears on an Internet website” to be political advertising. (TEC Rules Section 20.1 (11) Political Advertising)
Section 255.001 of the Texas Election Code requires a disclosure statement on political advertising, with few exceptions. According to TEC Rule Section 26.1(c)(2), “a disclosure statement is not required on political advertising posted on an Internet website, as long as the person posting is not an officeholder, candidate or political committee; and did not make an expenditure exceeding $100 in a reporting period for political advertising beyond the basic cost of hardware messaging software and bandwith.”
While this website might be classified as “political advertising”, less than $20 (domain registration) was spent to create the website and did not involve an officeholder, candidate or PAC. Therefore, no special disclosure statement nor reporting is required from TEC.
Thanks for your interest in the website, but more importantly, thanks for your engagement in the political process.