Gift cards for votes

It was revealed in a Filipino American news site that Daly City council candidate Dorie Paniza is trying her hand at an old campaign tactic that most politicos steer clear of.

As reported on the Mabuhay Radio news site, Paniza admitted to distributing $5 prepaid phone cards to prospective voters. When queried about the practice by a reporter for the site Paniza responded that, “before I ran for council member, I was already giving away $5-prepaid phone cards to my clients and people in the neighborhood. Why will they question me this time?”

Paniza is a first time candidate and states on her Website that she is the owner and CEO of Daly City Physical Therapy and the chain of Araville Residential Care Homes in San Francisco and South San Francisco.

Other political candidates have resorted to such electoral tactics as giving away freebies as a means to promote their candidacies and improve their public profile. Most famously, former Oakland Mayor and State Assembly candidate Elihu Harris distributed coupons for a free whole chicken and potato salad to voters who could provide a voting stub to one of eight locations including seven churches where they could pick up a voucher to take to one of two local grocery stores to trade in for the free dinner. The chicken for a vote deal was not illegal but the ensuing backlash cost Harris the seat when he lost the runoff of that special election to then Green Party candidate Audie Bock, the first third-party member elected to California's Assembly in 80 years. Oddly, the 5,000 coupons distributed by Harris’ campaign were also for $5.

In her council bid Paniza has garnered some support from local leaders including several local city and county commissioners and, most notably, Daly City Councilman David Canepa who has broken ranks with his council colleagues by endorsing a non-incumbent running against three incumbents trying to regain their respective seats.

It’s not clear if the phone card giveaway will impact the election but it is likely that some voters in Daly City may have lower phone bills this fall.

Contact Bruce Balshone at bruce.examiner@gmail.com
Visit Bruce Balshone's Examiner Page
Visit Bruce Balshone's Twitter Page
Visit Bruce's Peninsula Examiner Facebook Page