A Salt Lake City Council candidate is giving away an automobile in a drawing three days before municipal elections, a practice her opponent says is tantamount to buying votes.
Florence Bittner, a one-term councilwoman from District 1 on the city's northwest side, will give away a 1975 Chrysler Cordoba at a Saturday drawing. The vehicle serves as a tongue-in-cheek campaign car, Bittner said.Two hundred District 1 residents have returned a coupon accompanying campaign literature to Bittner's campaign headquarters, making them eligible for the car, donated by Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, she said.
"The fantastic, almost classic Chrysler Cordoba, vintage 1975, Bittner campaign car will be given away absolutely free," the coupon said.
Bittner's opponent in the race, former Salt Lake Councilman Ron Whitehead, said Bittner is trying to improperly influence the election.
"I don't think it's ever been done in city politics. I think it's very childish. I don't know what it accomplishes - she's just trying to buy votes, that's what it amounts to," he said.
Bittner denied she was trying to purchase the election.
"It (vote buying) would only be true if I were charging something or if there were some kind of incentive. So as long as it's absolutely free and there is no indication of a requirement to vote, there is no legal problem," she said.
State code chapter 20-13-1 governing municipal elections prohibits offering "any money or other valuable consideration . . . to induce any voter to vote or refrain from voting at such election for any particular person or persons."
Bittner says the car is of "no intrinsic value" and has been driven 160,000 miles. Miller paid for licensing and other fees for the car, she said.
No contributions were included in envelopes in which the drawing entrants sent their coupons, she added.
The car is bedecked with signs and political slogans and, as Nov. 7 elections approach, is driven four hours daily by campaign volunteers, she said. At other times it is parked in highly visible locations.
Whitehead said Bittner's campaign plan reflects the desperate nature of her position in the race. Whitehead secured 54 percent of the Oct. 3 primary elections while Bittner garnered only 36 percent of ballots cast.
"She's running behind and she's running scared. She's doing everything she can to get a few more votes," he said.
Bittner denied shes's waging a campaign of desperation.
"If you have seen the car you would know better," she said, explaining the vehicle is obviously a good-humored, legitimate campaign practice.