Group paying Phoenix voters for ‘Yes on 106’ social media posts

PHOENIX — Canvassers are paying Phoenix voters to post “Yes on 106” advertisements on their personal social media pages.

And right now, it’s perfectly legal.

“Think about it,” city councilman Sal DiCiccio said. “You’re allowed to hire whomever you want in order to get a message out.”

DiCiccio is not paying anyone $15 dollars to support the measure to force the city council to pay down its pension obligations. A private group is doing that.

The councilman has been vocal in his support of Prop 106, as well as Prop 105 that would stop light-rail expansion in downtown. He says Phoenix must pay its multi-billion-dollar pension liability, and not pay up to $1.3 billion on expansion.

Both measures go before Phoenix voters on Aug. 27.

Meanwhile, attorney Roopali Desai with Coppersmith Brockelman says, if voters are not expressing personal support, then “they should be saying that, ‘I’m doing this as paid work on behalf of the committee.”

Desai says Arizona could create a new law that would force campaigns to include disclosures that they pay people to play on social media.

“Without the force and effect of law, it’s impossible to require it,” Desai said. “So it just depends on each individual person to do the right thing.

A spokeswoman with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office says no law addresses the scenario of campaigns paying people to advertise on social media, but the campaigns would have to report this activity as an expenditure.

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