State election regulators are investigating whether Gov. Sarah Palin violated state law when she said in front of TV cameras last summer that she would vote no on a controversial ballot measure that sought stricter limits on water pollution discharges from mines.
Six days before the election last August, someone asked Palin during a press conference for her opinion on Measure 4. She responded: "Let me take my governor's hat off just for a minute here and tell you, personally Prop 4, I vote no on that."
On Friday, the Alaska Public Offices Commission held a hearing on the Palin issue. The five-member commission has 11 days to issue a decision in writing.
State law says that a governor cannot spend money or "provide anything of value" to influence the outcome of a ballot measure unless the Legislature has appropriated money for that purpose.
Palin's statements provided Measure 4 opponents with "valuable aid" -- free publicity -- just before the vote, prompting a flurry of ads featuring her picture and saying "Gov. Sarah Palin Personally Opposes Measure 4."
"Palin's one minute of sharing her opinion on Measure 4 after someone asked her what she thought about it does not meet that criteria; also, Palin's right to express her own opinion is enshrined in the state's Constitution," said Mary Ann Lundquist, the state's senior assistant attorney general, in her brief defending the governor.
Some argue that if Palin had come out in favor of Measure 4, the mining industry would have cried foul just like its supporters have.
The way I see it, Sarah Palin exercised her right to free speech not as a citizen, but during a press conference in her capacity as governor, even though she took "her governor's hat off". She violated state law in the process, so the only thing left to say is that she should have kept her mouth shut!
This is the same Sarah Palin who wouldn't tell reporters how she voted on November 4!
Sarah Palin seems unable to abide by the law. Add to that her inability to control her tongue, many attorneys will be kept very busy for some time to come...
ADN report
Recall Sarah Palin
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