Liz May for Congress Campaign offering $250 travel card for every 25 signatures. Per the campground based e-mail blast.

There’s an e-mail that’s suddenly bombarding e-mailboxes across the state, with a number of people sending me an e-mail shocked that a South Dakota campaign is actually trying to do this. But Congressional wannabe Liz May’s Congressional effort has apparently put a value on petition signatures, and sent out the following e-mail:

The e-mail promises that for every sheet the recipient fills out, they will receive a $250 American Express Travel Privileges Card.

What’s the problem with this? Well, for staters, it teeters on the edge of what many state residents find palatable.

South Dakotans have registered their displeasure with per-signature payment practices for quite some time. In 2007, South Dakota passed House Bill 1156, and made it a law that petitioners could not be paid on a per signature basis in an effort to address the concerns about state ballot measures abusing the process, which created the following laws:

     12-5-1.6.   Reward prohibited–Violation as misdemeanor. No person may employ, reward, or compensate any person to circulate a petition for the organization of a political party based on the number of registered voters who signed the petition. Nothing in this section prohibits any person from employing a petition circulator based on one of the following practices….

 12-13-28.   Employment and compensation of petition circulators. No person may employ, reward, or compensate any person to circulate a petition for an initiated measure, referred law, or proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution based on the number of registered voters who signed the petition. Nothing in this section prohibits any person from employing a petition circulator based on one of the following practices:…

     Any violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

However, this is not a party organization, or a ballot measure, but a candidate petition.. which is much less cut and dried, despite legislative intent to ban the practice back in 2007.  I’ve spoken with a couple people who are researching the matter at the moment, so I’m sure there will be more to come (or maybe a loophole to close in the future).

That being said and regardless, it is still explosive enough with the Liz May campaign apparently feeling enough pressure that they are setting the value of a petition signature at $10 a pop.   Or at least, $10 worth on a travel card that can only be redeemed for hotel, flights, etc subject to blackout.  (I’m sure they’re picking them up pretty cheap at the moment.)

Did I mention it gets weirder?  Check out the footer of the e-mail:

Not only are the links still using the e-mail management system under the name of Florida Congressional candidate Anna Paulina Luna – but there’s more.  The campaign mailing address declared by the e-mail is noted as 41 W. Hwy 14, Suite #67, in Spearfish.

I’m quite sure it’s a “sweet” location. But it’s not a suite in the traditional sense of the word. In fact, it’s not quite a building. Looking at the satellite view, #67 is actually not a suite, but a camping pad at a local area campground.

Which kind of leads me to ask the question.. If they were going to just park a camper somewhere, maybe the campaign could have ventured east of the James River for once?  (Just askin.)

This weekend’s e-mail blasts from Liz May seem to be a lot of on-line flailing for a campaign that sees the window of opportunity closing fast.  Maybe the point to take from all of this is one from gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson:  When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

Stay tuned.