COPS Voter Guide "Endorsements" for Sale

Paid slate-mailer "endorsements" are not worth the paper they're printed on.

Every election cycle, voters receive many so-called endorsement slates in their mailboxes. Sometimes, it's hard for the average voter to determine how to evaluate the endorsements on these sleek guides that appear to come from a trusted source.

Under California law, organizations that sell spots on their slate to the highest bidder are expressly permitted by law, and voters receive many mailers of this kind. The COPS "Voter Guide" is one of these paid slates.

There are, of course, voter guides that carry what are called "earned" endorsements. For example, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and the League of Conservation Voters both publish voter guides based on an evaluation of the merits of each measure and candidate based upon the principles espoused by their members. The same is true for the slates that are mailed by unions to their members.

Unfortunately, the COPS Voter Guide looks just like these earned voter guides, but the COPS Voter Guide features endorsements that are nothing more than paid advertisements by the candidates and measures indicated by an asterisk (*) on the mailer. For example, the endorsement of Superior Court Candidates Michael Jesic and Michael O'Gara, and Yes on Propositions 6, 7, 8, and 10 are paid advertisements by those campaigns.

Voters can verify these paid endorsements by reading the small box on the COPS Voter Guide, which is required by law for these paid mailers. The asterisk (*) adjacent to the "recommendations" on the COPS Voter Guide clearly indicates that the measure or candidate is a paid advertiser.

Our police and sheriffs are valued members of our community and their voice when expressed in favor of a candidate or measure they truly support, such as Lori-Ann Jones for Superior Court or "Yes" on L.A. County Measure J, are entitled to serious consideration by California voters. However, paid advertisements should be evaluated in light of the fact that they were not earned, but paid for.

For this reason, the COPS Voter Guide is worth far less than the last sheet of toilet tissue on the roll in your bathroom.