Category Archives: Local elections

"Push poll", Benicia City Attorney Heather McLaughlin, Benicia Municipal Code, EMC Research, Heather McLaughlin, Benicia City Attorney, Local elections, Research America

Attorney for “push poll” firm denies everything

Letter to Benicia City Attorney Heather McLaughlin from Attorney for EMC Research and Research America  (download in PDF format)

KAUFMAN LEGAL GROUP
A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

October 1, 2018
Direct: (916) 498-7715
VIA U.S. MAIL & E-MAIL

Heather McLaughlin, City Attorney
City of Benicia
City Hall
250 East L. Street
Benicia, CA 94510

Re: Poll Conducted by EMC Research and Research America

Dear Ms. McLaughlin:

This letter is in response to your email to Research America dated September 21, 2018 regarding a public opinion research poll conducted by Research America and EMC Research (“professional polling firms”). The public opinion research poll referenced in your e-mail was conducted by the professional polling firms regarding the upcoming Benicia City Elections. The poll was conducted in full compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws, which do not require campaign advertisement disclaimers on telephone polls. This letter will also serve to correct inaccurate facts reported in media articles regarding the poll. Specifically, the contents of the poll were not as stated in the media reports, which also misstated the scope and purpose of the poll.

EMC Research and Research America are professional polling companies with sterling reputations in their field. Neither company engages in campaign advertising communications. Rather, the purpose of their telephone communications is to conduct surveys based on scientific data and modeling to provide information back to campaigns about voter preferences and attitudes.

Political polling is conducted for the purpose of advising a campaign of public opinion as it relates to numerous campaign issues. Among these issues are: overall support for the candidate or measure with the electorate; overall support for the candidate or measure with the electorate versus opponent(s); support for the candidate or measure among specific demographic groups; support for the candidate or measure among registrants of different political parties; and effectiveness of specific campaign messages. Campaigns rely on this polling to guide decisions of where, when and how to spend campaign funds.

The public opinion research survey in question was designed to gather feedback from local voters on issues relevant to the upcoming election. It involved a robust sample methodology, designed to achieve a random sampling of likely voters from within the City of Benicia. The survey was conducted September 6 through September 20, among a random selection of 256 likely voters from within the City of Benicia.

There are no federal, State or local laws that require disclaimers on polls, whether conducted telephonically or by electronic mail. A recent opinion issued by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) at their September 2018 hearing confirmed this.1 Polls are not considered campaign communications or “mass mailings” and, thus, do not require campaign advertising disclosures. The Benicia Municipal Code provisions similarly do not apply, as they only apply to campaign communications. As the FPPC has opined, a poll is not a campaign communication.

The survey at issue was also not a “push poll,” as it was referred to in a Benicia Herald Op Ed dated September 23, 2018, and reiterated in a subsequent article dated September 28, 2018. As was noted in the article, “the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) … defines a ‘push poll’ as a form of negative campaigning that is disguised as a political poll. ‘Push polls’ are actually campaign communications — telephone calls disguised as research that aim to persuade large numbers of voters and affect election outcomes, rather than measure opinions.”

Polling by professional polling companies is not done to influence voters. The persons who are targeted for the poll solicitation are selected to form as accurate a representation of the electorate as possible. They are not selected for the purpose of finding groups to influence in the election. The communications, which vary in content, are not used for or intended to persuade voters. Even when questions state something positive or negative about a candidate or measure, the purpose of the language is to identify which arguments the campaign can use most effectively. This information is not presented to persuade voters, but rather to gather information to guide the client’s activities, including subsequent communications that actually may be intended to influence the electorate.

The Benicia poll conducted by the polling firms had a limited universe of targeted call recipients. The poll asked questions that included both positive and negative messages about several candidates to determine which messages were most persuasive to voters. These were asked as a part of numerous other questions designed to gather relevant data. This is in contrast to how the poll was reported in the aforementioned media stories, which described it as being communicated to a broad audience and one-sided in the questions presented.

Professional polling firms are not paid to communicate with voters. Instead, they are paid to gather information by conducting a poll. Polling firms seek to communicate with the fewest number of people necessary to obtain a scientific sample, as opposed to a campaign communication, which is designed to reach as many likely voters as possible. Once the poll is completed, the results are analyzed and provided to the client. That is the “product” for which the client is paying — not for a campaign communication.

The poll conducted by the polling firms at issue here was not a campaign communication, and was not a push poll. As a result, it did not require any disclaimer and did not violate any federal, State or local laws, including the provisions of the Benicia Municipal Code. Please contact me immediately should you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Gary S. Winuk  GSW:VCC

777 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 4050, Los Angeles, CA 90017
main 213.452.6565   fax 213.452.6575
www.kaufmanlegalgroup.com

"Push poll", Benicia City Attorney Heather McLaughlin, Benicia City Council, Heather McLaughlin, Benicia City Attorney, Kari Birdseye, Lionel Largaespada, Local elections, November election

Benicia City Council directs city attorney to take action against push poll

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald

Benicia City Council directs city attorney to take action against push poll

By JOHN GLIDDEN, October 3, 2018 at 5:55 pm

BENICIA — Fearing an outside group or person is attempting to negatively influence the City Council elections, councilors took action Tuesday night.

The council in closed session directed City Attorney Heather McLaughlin to contact the California Fair Political Practices Commission in response to a series of calls residents received that some say smeared one of the council candidates.

“When an outside force appears to be engaging in activities that are outside of the ordinance and not disclosing who they are — I think we have no choice but to move forward,” Vice Mayor Steve Young said in the meeting.

Several residents, including Young, have received a phone call from Research America, Inc., asking to conduct a survey about the City Council, senatorial and gubernatorial contests. However, Young says that most of the questions centered on candidates Kari Birdseye and Lionel Largaespada.

“The statements about Mr. Largaespada were uniformly positive and stated how, for example, he would use his small business background to improve the city’s economy and relations with its businesses,” Young wrote in a Sept. 20 letter published by the Benicia Independent. “The statements about Ms. Birdseye were the opposite. Among these statements were ‘She wants to shut down Valero, costing hundreds of jobs,’ and ‘She will bring radical left-wing politics to City Hall.’”

A representative with the data collection company Research America previously confirmed to the Times-Herald that the business was hired to conduct the survey by EMC. Representatives with that group didn’t return calls for comment.

McLaughlin was also directed Tuesday to contact Research America, Inc. and EMC Research about the survey, and ask for a copy of the questions asked and provide information on who paid for the poll.

At issue is the alleged failure of the companies to disclose who paid for the poll — a violation of the Benicia Municipal Code.

Many have called the survey a push poll. Such polls are meant to sway public opinion instead of recording objective information from those surveyed.

Councilman Tom Campbell also spoke during Tuesday’s meeting stating that residents support having fair elections in town.

Campbell, who spearhead a campaign reform initiative in 2009, said he got 1,200 signatures during that time with only five people expressing doubt about the initiative. The rest supported the item, he said.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people want the same thing. They want to be fairly informed of who is actually backing a candidate. They want the elections to be clean, and they want people, who spend money on elections, to disclose how much money they spent,” he said Tuesday.

Campbell further said that if Research America and EMC won’t provide answers that are necessary for the city to go to court for those answers.

Benicia City Council, Kari Birdseye, Local elections, November election

Larnie Fox: Why vote for Kari Birdseye?

Why vote for Kari Birdseye?

By Larnie Fox, October 3, 2018
Larnie Fox, Benicia

I just got off the phone with Kari Birdseye and I am happier than ever to be supporting her bid for Benicia’s City Council. I got to know Kari this year as her teammate in Benicia’s bocce ball league. I’ve found her to be refreshingly open-minded and optimistic. Given the divisive, confusing times we are living in, I totally trust Kari to provide clear, transparent and forward-looking leadership on the Council.

Kari is a long-term thinker. She often emphasizes the difference between reactive and proactive thinking. She told me that she believes that the whole current water rate mess could have been solved in the early 2000’s if a more proactive, less divided Council had been in place. You can expect Kari to oppose deferring any more infrastructure maintenance, especially on streets and the water system.

Kari is inclusive and is a good listener. She told me that during the course of her campaign she has been hearing from many people who have been hurt by the increased water rates. Once on Council she will work hard to address the issue, especially for low-income folks and seniors on fixed incomes. You can expect her to listen carefully, take everyone’s concerns seriously, then work to implement creative, proactive solutions that will ease current problems and prevent future problems for years to come.

Kari is a consensus builder. In her job as a Strategic Communications Manager for the NRDC, she works with scientists, engineers, lawyers, the press and the public to build consensus. She can learn from and talk to anyone.

Kari is independent. She does her homework and makes her own decisions. She will not be beholden to any business, union, politician or political group. Unlike other candidates, she is taking no money from corporations or businesses. She will make her own decisions. She is not anti-refinery. She wants a better partnership with Valero, but if necessary will stand up to big oil, real estate developers or any other group to protect our long-term economic interests as well as our air, water and land.

Kari is a committed Benician. She has lived here for nearly twenty years and raised her son and daughter here. She served on the board of the Benicia Stingrays swim team for nearly a decade, and was president for two years. Her son is now a lifeguard. She’s a past Mathew Turner PTA member, and now serves on the board of the Solano County Fair. Her 96 year-old grandmother also lives in Benicia, and Kari is well aware of the issues that local seniors face.

Kari understands the value of arts and culture in Benicia, both for their economic impact and their intrinsic value – making Benicia a more interesting and inviting place.

And I like her.

Vote for Kari, and remember to thank ALL who serve, have served or are willing to serve as officials in our local democracy. Their headaches are many, and their rewards are few.

Larnie Fox