The $50,000 Corvette bought by the IU Student Association to entice Bloomington students to vote in November's election is now the top prize of a University-wide raffle.\nStudent Body President Bill Gray said Tuesday that students now aren't required to vote to enter the contest to win the cream and crimson sports car.\nThe decision comes as legal experts and an Indiana election officer question whether Project Vote Hard breaks federal election law, which prohibits anyone from knowingly paying, offering to pay or accepting payment for registering to vote or voting.\nGray said Project Vote Hard was a "celebration of democracy" that wasn't soliciting students to vote.\n"The intent of our project has never been to persuade people to vote or not to vote for a certain candidate or question," Gray said. "It was purely encouragement to exercise a democratic process."\nGray told the Indiana Daily Student Sept. 2 that the plan would force legislators to pay attention to students' concerns.\n"One of the first initiatives that we are going to do is the Vote Campaign," Gray said. "We are going to get 10,000 registered voters here at IU next year."\nBut enticing voters to the polls with a car violates federal law, said Todd Rokita, Indiana's deputy secretary of state. His office oversees Indiana elections.\n"You cannot induce someone to give their vote, including a lottery," said Rokita, who is running for Secretary of State this fall against Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez. "I don't think these students have any criminal intent. Their intentions are good. Just not this way."\nRokita said his office would refer the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI if IUSA goes through with Project Vote Hard as planned.\nGray said there was no original intent to bribe students into registering to vote or to vote in general.\n"We were very diligent that we did not violate state or federal (laws). Federal law prohibits giving away a prize for having a \nperson vote," Gray said. "I knew the law."\nAssociate Dean at the IU Law School John Applegate said the law is unclear, since it was constructed for a different reason. \n"One can certainly make an argument that (the law) does apply," Applegate said.\nApplegate said the statute's intention is to prevent false voter registration. The assumption is that monetary rewards could be used to encourage election fraud. \nJim Palmer, an IU professor and an elections expert, agreed that it's difficult to determine whether or not the contest would be under federal scrutiny. \n"It's kind of vague when looking at the statue whether or not the lottery would be included," Palmer said. "We would have to determine, is it misguided? The lottery could be liable for a violation and subject to any penalties as provided in the statute."\nThe law also prohibits "vote buying" in the broadest terms possible by forbidding any "payment" or "offer of payment" that is made to a would-be voter "for voting" or to induce unregistered individuals to get onto the electoral roles. A "payment" encompasses anything of material value including lottery chances.\nSally Spiers, the executive assistant to the state's Attorney General, said the selling of lottery tickets to entice someone to vote would be illegal under federal law, which criminalizes offering or accepting payment for voting.\n"Any item of value, such as a lottery ticket, would fall under this ban under the Department of Justice's interpretation," Spiers said.\nIU Vice President of Public Affairs and Government Relations Bill Stephan said the administration appreciates the motivation of the student government leaders and doesn't believe the University should step in to resolve the matter.\n"I think they are going to have to work through these issues with their fellow students," Stephan said. "I don't know if it's our role to step into an area of student governance to throw our weight around."\nEven though there is some debate over the legality of IUSA's actions, Stephan said he has faith this matter will get resolved.\n"We'll have to give this some time to play out," Stephan said. "I trust the student body and the student government leaders to continue that discussion and debate."\nThe Corvette will now be available for all IU students to enter the contest and win, whether or not those students vote in the upcoming Congressional, state and local elections.\nGray said the Corvette will displayed prominently on campus, but would not say where and when.\n"We as an administration have wanted to be unlike any other administration before," Gray said. "Hate our idea or love our idea, there is attention being given to the democratic process. The whole "Vote Hard" project is a celebration of democracy."
Staff reporter Corinne Reynolds contributed to this report.
