Whoops: Measure 5 Campaign Literature Missing Legally-Required Disclaimer
Earlier this week the North Dakotans for Clean Water, Wildlife, and Parks went on the offensive against the American Petroleum institute over campaign items being distributed without the full, legally-required disclosure.
“The American Petroleum Institute has swooped into our state and brought its Washington D.C.-style dirty campaigning to North Dakota. As a trade association, they are required to follow the state’s campaign disclosure laws,” Clean Water, Wildlife & Parks Chairman Steve Adair said in a press release.
State law requires that all political advertising “must disclose on the advertisement the name of the
person, as defined in section 16.1-08.1-01, or political party paying for the advertisement. If the name of a political party, association, or partnership is used, the disclaimer must also include the name of the chairman or other responsible individual from the political party, association, or partnership.”
As you can see in the examples provided by NDCWWP the API advertising clearly says it was paid for by the American Petroleum Institute, they don’t also list the “name of the chairman or other responsible individual.”
So fair enough. API didn’t properly follow the law. The problem is that the pro-Measure 5 is breaking the same law.
Here’s one example a reader sent in of a mailer which lacks the disclaimer:
The NDCWWP has asked the Secretary of State to rule on these matters, though I’m not sure what good that’s going to do. Is he going to ask North Dakotans to pretend they hadn’t read this literature from both sides?
Even so, the NDCWWP and at least one of its partners is guilty of the same violation it seems.
UPDATE: Originally I had attributed one of the mailers to Pheasants for the Future. That was incorrect it came from Pheasants Forever. I gave edited the post to reflect that change.
