Political Activity Law/Political Law/Election Law

Day: June 30, 2008

  • Ethics Issues in Red Sox Nation

    This Boston Globe article discusses a controversy involving World Series tickets.

    Former Sox general manager Daniel Duquette was raked over the coals by Red Sox fans for failing to get the team to the World Series. Now he is embroiled in a state ethics controversy for allegedly selling Pittsfield Mayor James M. Ruberto two face-value tickets to the 2004 World Series at a time when seats were fetching as much as $2,000 apiece.

    Duquette told investigators that he sold Ruberto the two tickets for $190 each because he wanted his minor league team, the Berkshire Dukes, to play at a city park, according to a statement made public today by the State Ethics Commission.

    The commission alleges that the transaction violated the state’s conflict of interest law because face-value tickets were not available at the time to the general public. Tickets were selling on the Internet for $600 to $2,000 per ticket, according to the statement from the ethics commission’s enforcement division.

  • LD-203 Contributions Reporting System Announced

    The long-awaited LD-203 Contributions Reporting System has been announced.

    The Contribution Reporting system will provide access to a pre-populated contribution form for each filer. Access to this system is based on current LDA registrations and reports with the House and Senate. Each filer must sign into the system using an ID number and password. When a filer is signed in, they will be able to update their contact information, create a new filing for a reporting period, and file their form based on their User ID. All communications regarding filing and account status is automated and will be sent to the address on file for an account via email.

    Registrants will use the same ID and password that is used to file other lobbying disclosure forms to sign into the system, and must verify the registered lobbyist name before an account can be created for each employee. When a lobbyist name has been verified by the employer, the lobbyist must create a unique password for their account before they can sign into the system.

    There’s a FAQ and a set of online videos to help with the reporting requirements.

  • The Times on Political Freelancers

    Yesterday’s Times reports:

    Four years ago, the Internet was a Wild West that caused the occasional headache for the campaigns but for the most part remained segregated from them. This year, the development of cheap new editing programs and fast video distribution through sites like YouTube has broken down the barriers, empowering a new generation of largely unregulated political warriors who can affect the campaign dialogue faster and with more impact than the traditional opposition research shops.

    Already there are signs that these less formal and more individual efforts are filling a vacuum created by a decline in activity among the independent advocacy groups — so-called 527s and similar operations — that have played a large role in negative politics in the last several election cycles. Especially on the conservative side, independent groups have reported trouble raising money, and some of the biggest players from 2004 have signaled that they will sit it out this time around.