Teacher group files complaint over lookalike election ads

The North Carolina Association of Educators filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections on Tuesday over handouts they say are misleading voters at multiple Wake County polling locations.

Posted 7:04 p.m. Nov 4, 2014 — Updated 9:29 p.m. Nov 4, 2014

Tyler Dukes

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Association of Educators filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections on Tuesday over handouts they say are misleading voters at multiple Wake County polling locations.

In a letter to Board of Elections Director Kim Strach, the group says the campaign committee for state Rep. Tom Murry, R-Wake, handed out fliers implying NCAE endorsed his candidacy as well as those of state Reps. John Szoka, R-Cumberland, and Chris Whitmire, R-Transylvania. They're asking the board of elections to stop the N.C. Healthy Leadership Committee from passing out the fliers.

The apple-shaped cards are similar to handouts distributed by NCAE for years. They do not explicitly say the teachers group supports the candidates. Instead, they say the NCAE supported legislation the incumbent candidates have worked on.

NCAE attorney Michael Weisel alleges in the letter that the handouts violate election laws that prohibit materials misrepresenting sponsorships and advertising authorizations.

"The materials suggest NCAE endorses these candidates," Weisel wrote in the letter. "NCAE most emphatically did not."

In a statement to the State Board of Elections, Murry's campaign said it would provide an in-depth response Wednesday requesting that the complaint be dismissed. The campaign cited NCAE support for legislation sponsored by Murry that awards educators college credit for prior military experience.

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