The Republican Party of Shelby County has been informed that a mailer marked "Germantown Republican Ballot" has been mailed to residents of Germantown and is also being distributed at some early voting locations. This document was not produced by the Republican Party of Shelby County or any official arm of the Republican Party.
The “Germantown Republican Ballot” appears to be intentionally designed to mislead voters into believing that the three listed candidates for Alderman are official endorsees of the Republican Party. The Republican Party of Shelby County did not make any endorsements in the Germantown Alderman races.
While the Republican Party of Shelby County supports any candidate or committee's right to produce and distribute campaign ballots, we strongly oppose the deceptive nature of the ballot in question, which lacks any disclosure of its origins or what candidate or committee it was paid for by.
Chairman Bill Giannini said "We are very disappointed that someone clearly intended to deceive voters by plagiarizing our ballot. We consciously made the decision not to make endorsements in these races and this ballot undermines the party’s official position".
The Republican Party of Shelby County urges whoever is responsible for the “Germantown Republican Ballot” cease its distribution immediately. Giannini went on to say "We are pleased there are so many good Republican candidates for office in Germantown. However, We cannot condone the abuse of the goodwill of the Republican Party to mislead voters - by anyone".
For the actual Republican Party of Shelby County Sample Ballot:Online version: http://www.shelbygop.org/elections/Nov08sampleballot.html
Print version: http://www.shelbygop.org/elections/08NovRepublicanBallot.pdf
