GOP is cleared in 'push poll' case

An elections panel finds the party did not break the law in a state Senate campaign.

By LUCY MORGAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 26, 2000

TALLAHASSEE -- Two years ago when state Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale, was running against Republican Ellen Bogdanoff, the Florida Republican Party decided to make a few telephone calls.

It hired Public Opinion Strategies of Alexandria, Va., to phone 300 likely voters in the Broward County Senate district previously represented by Ken Jenne, who resigned to become sheriff.

Those telephone calls were at the center of charges brought against the Republican Party by state elections officials. On Friday, the Florida Elections Commission voted 7-0 to find the GOP innocent of willfully violating the law.

The decision is important to both political parties because similar calls are frequently made by each side during heated campaigns.

After being asked preliminary questions, those receiving the calls in Geller's district were asked if they would be more or less likely to vote for Geller if they knew how he had voted on a series of issues.

Before being asked the specific questions, 43 percent of the people called said they were likely to vote for Geller. After listening to the questions about his record, only 25 percent said they would vote for Geller.

State elections investigators labeled the calls a "push poll," designed to create a negative impression and a violation of a new state law adopted in 1997 to restrict such calls.

Phyllis Hampton, assistant general counsel for the Elections Commission, said the calls were clearly designed to oppose a candidate and did not include a required disclaimer advising who paid for them.

The Republicans insist the calls were a "scientific poll" designed to help them determine what issues they could use against Geller in ads later mailed to voters.

Because the party only made 300 calls and spent four to six minutes with each person called, they are exempt from the law, argued Bill Bryant, the lawyer representing the GOP.

The 1997 law was passed after repeated complaints about a series of deceptive telephone calls then-Gov. Lawton Chiles' campaign made to elderly voters in 1994. The law exempts political polling calls that do not advocate the election or defeat of a particular candidate. When fewer than 1,000 calls are made and the calls average more than two minutes in duration, they are presumed to be a political poll and not subject to restrictions, the law states.

Republican Party officials produced copies of the script used by those making the telephone calls and a copy of the $8,000 bill paid for the calls and noted that each call had cost the party about $27. The calls were made 16 days before the March 17, 1998, special election that Geller won.

Ordinarily, push polls or advocacy calls would cost 30 to 50 cents each and last only a few seconds, said Brecht Heuchan, the Republican Party official who runs Senate campaigns.

Heuchan said the information about Geller was accurate and had been pulled from newspapers and voting records in the Legislature. Generally, information used in push polls is untrue or exaggerated.

Members of the elections commission agreed the calls were exempt from the law but expressed concern that similar calls could be made in the future that endorsed a candidate. Commission Chairman Susan McManus said the commission would like to see the law fixed so any call endorsing or denouncing a candidate must include a disclaimer identifying who paid for the calls.

Mark Herron, attorney for the Democratic Party, said both parties make similar calls and were watching the case.

"I don't think the result changes the way anybody is doing business," Herron said.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.