O-A News article: "Libertarians lacking permit told to leave Republican-sponsored voter event at AU"

Amy Weaver / Staff Writer
October 12, 2006

The controversy between student political organizations at Auburn University continued Tuesday night as the College Libertarians tried to participate in the Republican-sponsored nonpartisan voter registration concert on the lawn of Cater Hall.

Grace Toles said she and other members of the College Libertarians attended the event with the intention of registering voters for the upcoming election.

But once they began to assemble their table and campaign signs, they drew attention from members of the College Republicans and the Auburn Police Division.

Toles, president of the Libertarians, said because the lawn was riddled with signs for Republican candidates the Libertarians felt it was right to follow suit.

"It was publicized as a nonpartisan event and there were obviously people showing support (for the Republicans), so we thought it was OK to do the same," she said.

According to Toles, members of the Republican student group asked them to remove their signs and leave. Toles said the Libertarians refused since the event was open to the public and free to all. Police officers patrolling the event also asked them to leave because they didn’t have a permit to be there.

Kristy Cottrell, chairman of the College Republicans, said the only issue of the evening was the permit.

Her organization got several permits from different university offices to have the concert and helped fund it with Alabama Rep. Mike Hubbard.

"I wish they (the College Libertarians) would have asked in advance (to be a part of the event) so we could have considered having them there," Cottrell said. "The Libertarians didn’t ask to be there, and because they didn’t ask, their name wasn’t on the permit."

Toles said her group fought for their right to assemble, citing to the police that it was advertised through the Student Government Association and Facebook as nonpartisan, open to the public and free for all. Dick Clark, the Libertarian candidate for the state House of Representatives seat currently held by Hubbard in District 79, and Toles said an officer told them they would be arrested for trespassing if they didn’t leave.

Despite the threat, Toles said they were allowed to stay but had to move off the lawn and across the concourse by the Foy Student Union.

Before the event ended, Clark said that he and Toles were verbally abused, and one forcibly grabbed his shoulder.

"The fact is that one minute we were talking and the next minute his hands were on me," Clark said.

Cottrell called such an allegation "absurd." None of the College Republicans would have gotten physical with Clark or anybody else, she said.

"It wasn’t that we wanted only Republicans to register. We want everyone to register no matter who they are voting for," she said.

Cottrell considered the event a success, with about 200 newly registered voters.

Neither Clark nor Toles believe the concert, featuring Hightide Blues, drew more than 100 people over two hours.

Cottrell, who claimed to have no knowledge of how the event was promoted, said any confusion could have been avoided had the Libertarians asked to be a part of the event in the first place or gotten a permit of their own.

Toles said she never felt she needed a permit to be there or she would have gotten one.

(Read the original story here. The Clark campaign press release on this topic is here.)