Full Disclosure: At the time of the 2008 election, I was employed by another campaign as an organizer in Isla Vista, and both led and participated in voter registration activities. I also extremely detest Steve Pappas.
California Superior Court Judge Judge Colleen K. Sterne ruled this week that Steve Pappas would have to pay Santa Barbara County Third District Supervisor Doreen Farr $700,000 in attorneys fees stemming from his court challenge of her 2008 election victory. For those unfamiliar with all the details of the case, the Santa Barbara Independent did an excellent in-depth review of its history a few months back, but here's a basic summary:
In the 2008 Presidential General Election Steve Pappas lost to Doreen Farr in the race for Supervisor by 2.27%. He lost in the student community of Isla Vista (directly adjacent to UC Santa Barbara) by more than 2-1. Citing his gut feeling that he should have gotten more votes in IV, Pappas demanded a recount. Which netted him exactly one extra vote. Still not satisfied, he then sued to have ALL votes in Isla Vista thrown out, which would win him the election. It should be noted that in three years and through numerous appeals, Pappas has yet to bring forth a single shred of evidence that any voter fraud took place, and admits that he cannot name a single person that he believes voted improperly. Having now lost in Court four times and having his allegations dismissed by one judge as "frivolous and tantamount to an intentional misleading of the Court", Pappas has been ordered to pay Farr's legal fees.
Bankrupting Doreen Farr was the clear primary objective of the lawsuit from the beginning. A quirk of California State Law meant that as the winning candidate, Farr was responsible for defending the election's outcome in court rather than the County Elections Office or the Secretary of State, even though at no point was she accused of doing anything improper. With big money developers bankrolling him, Pappas could afford to keep the lawsuit going indefinitely, and every dollar Farr spent would not be available for her reelection campaign in 2012. Which is why you can expect Pappas to be appealing Judge Sterne's ruling, it doesn't matter if he has to pay her as long as Farr doesn't have the money before her reelection campaign.
But there is a second more sinister motive to the lawsuit than a simple attempt to criminalize politics and bankrupt a political opponent. Pappas v. Farr is simply one front in the Right's nationwide effort to disenfranchise young voters. Speaking to a group of young activists, Former President Bill Clinton recently described it as
"one of the most pervasive political movements going on outside Washington today is the disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to to keep most of you from voting next time [...] There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today."
This movement is very real. In Florida it's evident in a recently passed law that requires all those participating in voter registration activities to register in advance or face criminal charges. The non-partisan League of Women Voters have already cancelled their voter registration drives in the state out of fear of legal repercussions, and the law will play havoc with college student drives. In Maine, it is seen in the GOP legislature's attempt to ban out of state college students from voting in the communities that they live in for 4+ years. In Maine, it is seen in the GOP legislature's attempt to ban out of state college students from voting in the communities that they live in for 4+ years. In case anyone thinks there's anything but partisanship and ideology behind it, Republican Assembly Speaker O'Brien explained that college students "are basically doing what I did when I was a kid and foolish, voting as a liberal. They don't have life experience and they just vote their feelings." In Chico, CA it was the recently defeated Measure A, which attempted to move the City Council elections into the summer when student's wouldn't be there to vote. Or when Newt Gingrich calls for a poll test for young voters. And it's not going to stop. Having realized that they can't win the votes of young people the Right has decided to try to bar them from voting. Where that doesn't work, they'll try to make it harder to vote. And when that fails they'll simply demonize young people as Pappas has.
Republicans are not going to stop, and so it's our job to fight them when they do it, make sure people know what's going on, and push for progressive reforms like same-day registration and vote-by-mail elections to make it easier, not harder for everyone to vote.
Originally published on www.EntertainedOrganizer.com