In the first in what may be a series of indictments, a Prince George's County grand jury has charged the head of a Washington employment agency with illegally hiring workers to hand out literature on Election Day for Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
The indictment, which was announced yesterday, charges Shirley R. Brookins, 56, head of the Alternative Resource Cooperative, with hiring homeless residents from the Community for Creative Non-Violence in Washington to work Nov. 5 on behalf of Ehrlich and his running mate, Michael S. Steele.
State election law bars the use of so-called "walking around money" to pay Election Day poll workers. Violations carry a prison term of up to one year and fines of up to $25,000.
According to the one-page indictment, the nearly 200 homeless persons were paid in return for "accosting voters outside the polls, communicating a voting preference and distributing campaign literature" for the Ehrlich-Steele ticket.
"The investigation is continuing," said State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli, adding that more evidence will be presented to the investigating panel in the near future.
Despite the investigation, a spokesman for Ehrlich said the campaign was not responsible for any alleged Election Day payments to poll workers. "The Ehrlich campaign was adamant that all staffers follow the letter of the law," said spokesman Henry P. Fawell. "Any alleged wrongdoing was on the part of overzealous individuals."
State campaign finance records show that on Nov. 2, three days before the election, Steele's campaign committee paid $52,640 to Brookins' firm, which is located at 1305 Fern St. NW in Washington.
Brookins declined to comment yesterday. She said her attorney, whom she declined to identify, was handling the matter.
Listed as a witness on the indictment is John Poliks, a special agent in Montanarelli's office. Poliks, reporters and police were present at the homeless shelter on Nov. 6 when more than 100 of the workers gathered in front of a van to collect $150 each for their services the day before.
Though the indictment states that the homeless shelter is in Southwest Washington, the stark white brick-and-concrete shelter sits in the northwest part of the city amid federal court and District of Columbia office buildings, across the street from the U.S. Tax Court.
The workers from the homeless shelter were joined on Election Day by dozens of students, who said they had been recruited to hand out Ehrlich literature in Prince George's County. The students, however, said they were never paid as promised.
Democrats hailed yesterday's indictment as "just the tip of the iceberg."
Predicting that Montanarelli would "follow the money," David Paulson, spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said: "Someone gave this woman money and someone higher up authorized it. She was hired to do something specific and indictable."
John Kane, chairman of the state Republican Party, said that if Brookins violated the law, she would have to face the consequences.
But Kane said that State Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. bears responsibility for last-minute confusion over what paid Election Day activity was permissible under the law.
The Democratic Party had sought to pay workers up to $100 on Election Day to canvass neighborhoods on behalf of congressional candidates.
Curran, a Democrat, advised the party on the day before the Nov. 5 election that such activities were illegal, but that workers could be paid to encourage people to vote if they refrained from indicating a preference of candidates or political parties.
"My guess is the woman was confused," said Kane.
Kane said neither the Republican committee nor any of the other committees supporting Ehrlich authorized any illegal activity.
Curran yesterday said his ruling was "crystal clear" and should not have caused any confusion.
"It was very clearly stated. There was no gray area," Curran said, adding that his ruling made it plain that Election Day workers were strictly barred from showing preference for any candidate.