Arnold busted again

Posted By Patrick Hynes on Sep 17, 2013 | 13 comments

For a candidate who bases his campaign on the issue of crime, it’s been a sloppy social media week for Patrick Arnold’s mayoral campaign in Manchester. We’ve already reported that Arnold had a web video removed from YouTube due to a copyright violation. It now appears as though the Arnold campaign has broken the law again by tweeting out a photograph of the city ballot.

According to the Nashua Telegraph, Assistant Secretary of State Karen Ladd says it is a misdemeanor to take a picture of a ballot and share it on social media.

Arnold’s campaign disavows any knowledge of the illegal tweet. But NH Journal has obtained a screen cap of the tweet from Liz Kulig, the Manchester Democrat Chair, which was retweeted by Arnold himself.

The New Hampshire Republican Party says Arnold’s frequent brushes with election law make him a “serial offender.”

First illegal campaign mailers, then illegal web videos, now illegal pic of a ballot. @ArnoldForMayor is a serial offender. #NHPolitics

— NHGOP (@NHGOP) September 17, 2013

BruceMacMahon

What’s the rationale for making it illegal to post a picture of your own ballot online?
- BruceMacMahon
  
  It’s perfectly lawful to tell people whom you voted for, and the state publishes sample ballots on line that look exactly like the ballots the voters receive (minus the “SAMPLE” watermark)..
  
  A .pdf scan of a ballot? I can see that. You don’t want people running off copies to vote multiple times,
JasonAntosz

photo was original tweeted by Liz Kulig, the Manchester Democrat Chair, why the focus only on Arnold? PDF from NHSOS site gets copied and posted by thousands all over facebook and twitter every election. a PDF is a picture format. copyright violation through Youtube, is not actually a violation, it is simply a warning of “potential” violation under there rules. Also the material must state it is copyrighted. This is all nonsense! what next he has an unpaid parking violation from last year? Who cares!! How many People cut and paste articles on Facebook or twitter? read the bottom, most are copyrighted with author, thus a violation! consequences?? none!
- Timothy Horrigan
  
  copyright’s got nothing to do with it, Jason.
  - BruceMacMahon
    
    Then what’s it all about?
Ahroun Deltori

It’s just a smear campaign. Ted wants to try everything to stay in power, what a pathetic waste of a human being. Vote Patrick Arnold
AJ

I am a republican But I feel this is a poor attempt to oust a contender. I am not sure who to vote for now..
- rangerider
  
  Then you must be a rhino. Why would you not vote for the republican ?
Timothy Horrigan

It is unclear if what we see in this tweet is illegal or not. I sponsored a bill in the NH House, HB 366, which clarifies that putting your ballot online like this is a violation. It has been heavily amended by a subcommittee of the House Election Law committee and it will be considered by the full House in January.
- Timothy Horrigan
  
  It is unclear if this tweet is real, however: it does not appear in @EKulig’s timeline. She may have deleted it (which is not illegal or unethical), or it may be a hoax.
- BruceMacMahon
  
  Can you post a link to the current law?
  
  Is the intent of the law to prevent people from creating realistic replica ballots?
  - BruceMacMahon
    
    OK, I just read HB 366.
    
    Why should it be illegal to post an image like the one shown above?
    
    This seems like a solution in search of a problem,
    
    Also, should this site’s owners also be charged?
BruceMacMahon

*****
659:35 Showing or Specially Marking Ballot. –
I. No voter shall allow his ballot to be seen by any person with the intention of letting it be known how he is about to vote except as provided in RSA 659:20.

*****
If a person has already voted, there’s NOTHING in this law that says that person can’t post a picture of his or her ballot on line.

What is the intent behind criminalizing the showing of a ballot prior to officially casting one’s vote?

In other words, if I come out of the voting booth, hold up my marked ballot and announce to everyone in the room that I voted for Mitt Romney, then I’m breaking the law????????????

Am I the only one who sees a serious First Amendment issue here?

Arnold busted again

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