Judge: Group must register before funding ads for candidate

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | 7:37 p.m.

CARSON CITY — District Judge James Wilson Jr. has issued a preliminary injunction stopping a Virginia company from financing any more television ads for Republican candidate for governor Brian Sandoval unless it registers with the Secretary of State’s Office.

The Alliance for America’s Future, a non-profit corporation, maintained it did not have to register because it never advocated that the viewer vote for Sandoval. It said its right of free speech was being violated and its non-profit status exempted it from the law.

But Wilson, who heard arguments on Tuesday, ruled First Amendment rights to free speech were not violated.

“Nevadans have a right to know who is behind election advertising,” Wilson wrote in his 10-page decision.

“Continued violation of the statutes and depriving Nevadans of information about who is behind its election advertising will cause irreparable harm as voting will be influenced by unknown persons,” Wilson said.

Secretary of State Ross Miller also sought a $5,000 fine, but the judge said “compensatory relief cannot compensate for this type of harm.”

Matt Griffin, deputy secretary of state in charge of elections, said his office will consult with the state Attorney General’s Office to see if the Alliance for America’s Future can be forced to register for the past money spent on advertising and to reveal the name of its contributors.

He said there could be further court action to force the group to pay the $5,000 fine sought by the secretary of state’s office.

A 30-second television advertisement by the group shows newspaper articles with headlines indicating Democratic groups oppose Sandoval.

The TV narrator says liberals have been attacking Sandoval and questioned why they were afraid of him. The advertisement says Sandoval has conservative values, is against job-killing tax increases and plans to cut waste in government. Sandoval’s name is spoken five times during the advertisement.

The advertisement does not use “vote for” or “elect” Sandoval and does not say he is a candidate for governor or even that he is a candidate.

Wilson said the Legislature intended the law “to control even if and when entities cleverly omit the magic words or express advocacy but the communication when viewed as a whole is susceptible for no other reasonable interpretation but an exhortation to vote for or against a specific candidate.”