KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Citizens' initiatives square off

Citizens' initiatives square off

by Bill McAllister
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Supporters of a citizen's initiative for public funding of state political campaigns are rushing to meet a deadline Monday in order to get the issue on the election ballot this fall.

But a rival initiative is complicating their task because of misrepresentations about what each measure would do.    

Supporters of both the clean elections initiative and the anti-corruption act are out now gathering signatures of registered voters.    

But there's an official complaint that one group is trying to hide the differences between them.

The public corruption trials in Alaska this year prompted a group of citizens to launch an initiative to try to take special interest money out of political campaigns by offering candidates public money to replace it.    

The so-called clean elections campaign needs to turn in the signatures of about 24,000 registered voters by Monday in order to get that issue on the election ballot this fall.    

But a couple of the supporters filed a complaint Tuesday with the Division of Elections saying that their initiative is being misrepresented by another group with a rival proposal.    

That proposal, called the anti-corruption act, would block financial ties between government contractors and politicians. It also would prohibit the public financing of campaigns.

Clean elections supporter Steve Cleary says the Committee to Stop the Corruption is telling voters that the acts are one in the same.

"They think it's the best way to solve corruption may well be their opinion, but them saying that it does the same thing or will have a similar effect as clean elections is simply false," said director of the Alaska Public Interest Research Group, Steve Cleary. "It's going to negate clean elections and that's why we filed this complaint."    

Anchorage Assemblywoman Sheila Selkregg says a signature-gatherer for the anti-corruption act tried to confuse her about the issues.

"I think it was probably deliberate. I think it's too directly associated with the clean election initiative," Selkregg said. "It's kind of coming right behind it at the very end. I think it's out there to kind of erode the support behind that and negate it."    

Bob Adney, director of the anti-corruption campaign, acknowledges he's trying to block public financing.    

But he denies any effort to confuse the public, saying his petitioners prominently display the initiative summary before people sign.

"We have gone above and beyond what any other petition has done in Alaska in order to ensure that the potential signers know what they're signing and are properly informed about what they're signing," Adney said.      

Carol Thompson at the Division of Elections says she probably will turn the complaint by the clean elections group over to the Department of Law.    

Thompson says the law on initiatives is silent on the question of false representation about what's in them.

The anti-corruption group has given up on getting the minimum number of signatures by Monday, which is the deadline for this year because it's the last day before the Legislature convenes.    

So there could be a vote on clean elections this year, and another on the anti-corruption act in 2010.

Contact Bill McAllister at bmcallister@ktuu.com