Dear Editor,

For the first time we have been able to view a copy of the response from the opposing nominee with respect to our complaint to the Indiana Election Commission regarding a direct link to his business logo and from there direct links to every aspect of his campaign, all on a government website.

The Election Commission operates under the Indiana Secretary of State and, among its other duties, investigates and makes determinations regarding election complaints. In some instances it is required to refer matters back to the prosecuting attorney in the proper venue.

On or about Aug. 1 our committee became aware, by report from a concerned party, of the website activities by the opposing nominee. We conducted a two week investigation and on or about Aug. 18 and submitted a complaint, with many pages of exhibits, against the opposing nominee.

Here is the simplest explanation of what we saw.

The nominee, Curt Nisly, through his company, secured a contract with the Elkhart County Clerk to design her website for, at least, the Elkhart County Election Board.

His business received over $7,500 in government money for its work.

Here is how the design worked.

If one put in the search engine line “Elkhart County Clerk” and clicked, the searcher was directly transported to the Elkhart County Election Board, not the clerk’s office. At the bottom of that page was a logo for the candidate’s business. One could move the cursor to the business logo which underscored and with one click the person was taken to the candidate’s business site.

Prominently displayed there were logos regarding his campaign and direct links to the campaign Facebook and campaign website.

Nisly, in his response to the commission, contends that there were no “direct” links to his campaign Facebook and campaign website from the election board website.

This is a half truth at best.

There was a direct link to his campaign advertising under the guise of showing the public an example of his company’s work which included his campaign logo and direct links to his campaign Facebook and campaign website. Certainly he could have chosen to display other examples of work but specifically chose this display which had the direct effect of marketing his campaign with its links, all on a government website.

The clerk has responded to the commission that Aug. 13 she first became aware of this activity. She ordered its immediate severance at 10 p.m. that evening. Obviously she knew it was wrong.

The candidate severed the direct and secondary links on Aug. 14, demonstrating his ongoing access and control of the government website while a candidate.

On July 1, Indiana Code 3-14-2-21 became effective. The statute provides the following: “A person who fraudulently causes a voter at an election to vote for a person different from the one the voter intended to vote…commits a Class 6 felony.”.

These are the facts upon which the Indiana Election Commission indicates it will hold a hearing in December 2014. We defer to the commission and any other entity as to whether this activity constituted an attempt to cause a voter to vote other than he or she intended.

It is clear that the activity on the government website was designed to persuade visitors to vote for the candidate. Most reasonable people would agree this looks highly improper.

Committee to Elect David Kolbe for State Representative
Warsaw