Lake County election complaint dismissed

POLSON — A Polson man’s right to anonymous political speech was upheld last week when the last of a handful of election complaints filed in September 2010 was dismissed by Commissioner of Political Practices David Gallik.

The complaints involved the election for Lake County sheriff.

Gallik dismissed a complaint filed on April 13, 2010, by Lanny VanMeter, treasurer for Jay Doyle’s campaign.

VanMeter alleged that Terry Leonard was participating in illegal anonymous campaigning and violating state election law through the groups Concerned Citizens of Lake County and Concerned Citizens against Jay Doyle as well as the websites www.asksheriffluckylarson.com and www.nojaydoylesheriff.com.

Gallick, however, rejected VanMeter’s contention that the groups were political action committees.

Since Leonard was the only person involved, the organizations did not meet the legal definition of political action committees, Gallik ruled.

Leonard’s bank records indicated he paid a total of $2,222.35 for all publications and both websites from his personal account, and other than Leonard, no one contributed financially to the cost of the publications or websites.

The commissioner’s investigation concluded that Leonard alone was Concerned Citizens of Lake County and did nothing more than share information with friends and/or associates regarding information he planned to publish in the newspaper or on the websites.

“All witnesses provided the same information, i.e., that ‘Concerned Citizens of Lake County’ was Terry Leonard, alone,” the commissioner’s summary of facts report said.

Leonard claimed the pseudonym was a necessary safety measure against “death threats, verbal assaults, anonymous email threats, etc.” from “Lanny VanMeter and his crew” when he “blew the whistle” on the Sheriff’s Office.

“The use of pseudonyms contributes to the robust nature of debate online,” Gallik wrote.

In an email, Leonard responded to Gallik’s decision: “I am pleased with the Commissioner of Political Practices decision to dismiss Mr. Van Meter’s complaint. I have known from the beginning that it was baseless and I am glad that due diligence by the COPP shows those baseless lies very clearly.”