Hillary Clinton might want to keep her husband on a tighter leash—or someone else might do it for her.
At least, that’s the hope of more than 98,000 people who have signed a petition asking that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey have former President Bill Clinton arrested for allegedly breaking state election rules.
On Tuesday, President Clinton sparked headlines and calls of foul play after he appeared at polling locations near Boston during the state’s Super Tuesday primary vote. Problem is, campaigning within 150 feet of a polling station and impeding citizens’ ability to vote violate Massachusetts law.
“[N]o person shall solicit votes for or against, or otherwise promote or oppose, any person or political party or position on a ballot question, to be voted on at the current election… within 150 feet of a polling place,” the law says. Video of one of the incidents has been used as evidence that President Clinton did just that.
The petition, created by Chicago resident Veronica Wolski, a self-proclaimed supporter of Clinton challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), claims that President Clinton had no reason to be at the polling stations other than to campaign for his wife, who is leading the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“After being told to refrain from this activity, which is a 3rd degree Voter Violation Felony, for which Clinton indeed must have known the law and chose to violate it, Bill Clinton does not vote in Massachusetts,” the petition reads, “and would have no other business in a polling station on election day besides campaigning for his wife.”
Indeed, the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office told Boston magazine that it had “reminded” former Secretary of State Clinton’s campaign of the law against electioneering.
Wolski’s petition “will be successful ONLY when Bill Clinton is held [to] the same laws as the REST of the citizens of the United States,” she told the Daily Dot via Twitter. “But I am so grateful that so many saw the same injustice I did, and are taking a stand to correct this.”
“This will not be a success until justice is served,” Wolski added.
The petition has at least one key flaw, however. It is addressed to Attorney General Healey, but election violations are handled by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office, not the attorney general.
The Attorney General’s office declined to comment on the petition. The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office was not available for comment.
Members of Reddit‘s r/SandersforPresident community led the charge against President Clinton on Tuesday evening, with members collecting videos, tweets, and Google Maps images as evidence against the 42nd commander in chief.
While President Clinton’s fate in Massachusetts potentially hangs in the balance, his wife walked away from the state with a narrow Super Tuesday victory over Sanders—50 percent to 49 percent.
Update 9:50pm CT, March 2: Added comment from Wolski.
Update 10:50pm CT, March 2: Added additional comment from Wolski, updated signatory count.
Update 8:25am CT, March 4: Signatory count up to 98,000.
H/T Rob Price | Photo via cornstalker/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)