SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Adam Long doesn’t mince words,
“So much of it is based off of lies and deceit and not being honest,” said Long.
The Sioux Falls veteran is not happy with some of the ads in favor of Amendment H. His mom called him one day after getting this flyer, concerned that her son could not vote in the primary election.
“They are trying to say that veterans have lost their voice, no we haven’t lost our voice we know exactly, if we want to vote for X, Y and Z then we register that way and that’s how we do that. So if you want to vote for a certain party then you do that,” said Long.
The veteran of both the Air Force and Navy says the ads in his eyes are not only misleading but offensive to veterans.
“They put tape over the mouths of these actors who are trying to portray themselves as veterans, they have beards and their collars are disheveled, I mean it just doesn’t make sense. It’s ugly, it’s lies, it’s not giving the respect to the uniforms that we, so many of us wore with so much pride. We earned the ability to wear that,” said Long.
A national nonprofit group called Veterans for all Voters supports Amendment H. However one of the founders agrees with Long, that the ad by out of state political action committee Unite America, was poorly executed.
“Veterans for all Voters does not agree with or support with the way veterans were portrayed in that ad. However what we do agree with and what we are fighting for in almost 10 states this year is that all voters to be able to vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation,” said Eric Bronner.
Bronner says the 50 percent of veterans who are independent voters should not be forced to join a private political party.
“It’s an issue that should outrage everyone that private political parties control our public elections in such a way that they say sorry unless you join us you have no say,” said Bronner.
Open Primaries, the local group behind Amendment H says currently 155,000 South Dakota voters can’t take part in a meaningful way in the hiring of the people who govern them.
The group’s chair, Joe Kirby sent us a statement which reads in part.
“While our South Dakota organization had no involvement in the Unite America commercials, we think they do an effective job of highlighting one particular group of those independent voters.”
Long encourages people concerned about the issue to reach out to a veterans group or to veterans they know.
“They will tell you the truth that they’ve been able to vote, that their word that their voice, their check mark, their ballot nothing has never changed here nothing, this is false we have a voice, we will always have a voice. Your veteran group is one of your largest voting groups there is and we will always be that group, we fought for it we are going to exercise our right to do it now.
KELOLAND News was in contact with the Colorado-based Political Action Committee behind the ad. We requested an interview with someone from Unite America to explain their rational for the ad. We did not hear back from them.
