{"id":7817,"date":"2015-02-24T14:18:41","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T20:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=7817"},"modified":"2015-02-26T04:24:43","modified_gmt":"2015-02-26T10:24:43","slug":"free-donuts-raise-questions-about-electioneering-at-bridgeport-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/free-donuts-raise-questions-about-electioneering-at-bridgeport-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"Free doughnuts raise questions about electioneering at Bridgeport polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dean DeChiaro<\/p>\n

Just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, two poll watchers at the Hamburg Athletic Club on South Emerald Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood told potential voters to cast their ballots for Patrick Daley Thompson, the former mayor\u2019s nephew and candidate in the 11th Ward, and to help themselves to \u201cfree coffee and doughnuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Patrick<\/a>
Patrick Daley Thompson is running for 11th Ward alderman. He is the nephew and grandson of former Chicago mayors Richard J. Daley and Richard M. Daley. (Patrick D. Thompson campaign\/Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Election workers inside the club\u2019s polling station said that the doughnuts\u00a0and coffee were brought that morning by the poll watchers Jason Brown and Peter Alinovich. Brown, standing well within the polling place\u2019s electioneering boundaries, told at least two members of the public to vote for Thompson.<\/p>\n

Asked about the doughnuts, Alinovich and Brown made light of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat, they\u2019re going to send us to jail?\u201d Alinovich asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bought those doughnuts with our own money,\u201d said Brown, who later noted that \u201coutside those boundaries, we\u2019re allowed to tell people to vote for Pat D. Thompson.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are strict electioneering codes<\/a> in Chicago, which bar the discussion of candidates or influencing of voters within 100 feet of a polling place.<\/p>\n

The Board of Election Commissioners was asked for comment, and did not respond.<\/p>\n

Thompson, who is the grandson and nephew of former mayors Richard J. Daley and Richard M. Daley, respectively, is running against challengers John Kozlar and Maureen Sullivan. The ward encompasses Bridgeport, Canaryville and sections of Back of the Yards, Pilsen and Chinatown.<\/p>\n

Both Brown and Alinovich have ties to the ward\u2019s Democratic campaign committee. According to Illinois campaign finance records, Alinovich has donated $1,550 to the committee since 2000.<\/p>\n

Since 2009, Brown has donated $300. Alinovich also contributed $550 to the election coffers of John P. Daley, Thompson\u2019s uncle, when he served in the state General Assembly.<\/p>\n

Dave Bayless, a spokesman for Thompson, said the campaign would look into whether any improper activity was taking place at the polling place.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround here we\u2019re very well-versed in the rules and regulations about activity at polling stations,\u201d he said. \u201cOur volunteers have instructions to abide by the law and follow the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo top: A table with free doughnuts and coffee was set up in the middle of a Bridgeport polling station this morning by poll watchers who told voters to vote for Richard Daley Thompson while they were standing within the anti-electioneering \u201ccampaign free zone.\u201d (Dean DeChiaro\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dean DeChiaro Just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, two poll watchers at the Hamburg Athletic Club on South Emerald Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood told potential voters to cast their ballots for Patrick Daley Thompson, the former mayor\u2019s nephew and candidate in the 11th Ward, and to help themselves to \u201cfree coffee and doughnuts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":7857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[321],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-7817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nFree doughnuts raise questions about electioneering at Bridgeport polls - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/free-donuts-raise-questions-about-electioneering-at-bridgeport-polls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free doughnuts raise questions about electioneering at Bridgeport polls - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Dean DeChiaro Just before 8 a.m. on Tuesday, two poll watchers at the Hamburg Athletic Club on South Emerald Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood told potential voters to cast their ballots for Patrick Daley Thompson, the former mayor\u2019s nephew and candidate in the 11th Ward, and to help themselves to \u201cfree coffee and doughnuts.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/free-donuts-raise-questions-about-electioneering-at-bridgeport-polls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-24T20:18:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-26T10:24:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Donuts.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"825\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"karinvandraiss\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"karinvandraiss\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/free-donuts-raise-questions-about-electioneering-at-bridgeport-polls\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/free-donuts-raise-questions-about-electioneering-at-bridgeport-polls\/\",\"name\":\"Free doughnuts raise questions about electioneering at Bridgeport polls - 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