Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
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To the editor,
I am writing out of my growing concern for local election honesty and integrity. Misinformation is running rampant during our national elections and now I see it seeping into our local elections.
Karen Willey, who was appointed to her current position as Douglas County Commissioner (due to Commissioner Shannon Portillo’s midterm resignation), claims in her advertisements that she is running for re-election. To run for re-election, in my book, you had to have been previously elected by your constituents. She wasn’t.
Shannon Reid, who is in fact running for re-election, won her primary against Lisa Larsen on Aug. 6. On Aug. 3, just three days prior to the election, a slimy postcard was mailed by a PAC called “Kansans for an Affordable Future” that contained three bald-faced lies about Larsen’s positions on key issues. Footnotes on the postcard led to news articles that disproved those very lies. Reid’s photo and a phone number were prominently displayed on the flip side. I don’t know if Reid OK’d this postcard, but she certainly didn’t publicly disclaim the lies about her opponent. She never has. Not a peep.
I have learned that, incredibly, there are no criminal laws against spreading disinformation and outright lies in election materials. The only remedy if a person is slandered is to file a civil lawsuit at their own expense. What we can do as voters is to vote false-truth enablers out of office. I am a registered Democrat who is supporting the candidacy of Reid’s opponent — Independent Brad Chun. I know Brad to be a smart, honest and kind person who would not allow lies to be promulgated in his name.
— Rick Frydman, Lawrence
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