Wanders Accused Of Electioneering
Steve Wanders while being interviewed to be appointed to Mahaska County Supervisor. (file photo)
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Mahaska County Supervisor and candidate for supervisor Steve Wanders has been accused of electioneering after complaints were received about the candidate.
According to Iowa law, campaigning or electioneering of any kind in a polling place or within 300 feet of any door to a polling location is illegal. Wanders is being accused of being in front of the Mahaska County Courthouse wearing a campaign t-shirt and handing out candy with a campaign sticker affixed.
The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office has been in contact with Wanders about the issue and says their elections director has spoken with Mahaska County Auditor Sue Brown about the allegation. “Auditor Brown was not aware that candidate Wanders was engaged in campaign activity and she said that she would advise the candidate of laws related to electioneering at her earliest opportunity.”
Oskaloosa News reached out to Wanders about the allegation on Wednesday morning.
‘It’s just a learning deal,” said Wanders of the incident. “I didn’t realize I was doing anything wrong.”
“We’re standing at the bottom of the steps handing out candy being part of the community service,” said Wanders. “I’ll just have to see what the Secretary of State tells me to do next.”
Iowa Code 39A.4
Election misconduct in the third degree.
1. A person commits the crime of election misconduct in the third degree if the person willfully commits any of the following acts:
a. Election day acts.
Any of the following on election day:
Loitering, congregating, electioneering, posting signs, treating voters, or soliciting votes, during the receiving of the ballots, either on the premises of a polling place or within three hundred feet of an outside door of a building affording access to a room where the polls are held, or of an outside door of a building affording access to a hallway, corridor, stairway, or other means of reaching the room where the polls are held. This subparagraph does not apply to the posting of signs on private property not a polling place, except that the placement of a sign that is more than ninety square inches in size on a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer, or its attachment to a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer parked on public property within three hundred feet of a polling place is prohibited.
Oskaloosa News reached out to Mahaska County Attorney Jim Blomgren to find out if any criminal charges would be filed in connection to the allegation.
“Because I just learned about it this morning, it’s too soon for me to know. It’s my understanding Mr. Wanders has been advised that what he did was inappropriate, and I at this point can’t say whether or not there would be any charges filed. It’s more likely I would say that he will receive a warning letter than criminal charges being filed, but I don’t know that for sure,” said Blomgren.
The Mahaska County Attorney’s Office would be the authority to determine if criminal charges will be filed in this matter.
