FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) – The campaign website for Susan Inman, the Democratic secretary of state candidate, used material taken without attribution from the official Arkansas secretary of state website possibly in violation of state and federal law, according to a cease-and-desist letter from Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office.
The letter, dated Thursday (Oct. 16), is addressed to Inman and is signed by General Counsel Martha M. Adcock.
On her campaign website, Inman responded on Monday (Oct. 20), saying Martin used taxpayer money in trying to intimidate her.
“I am extremely disappointed that Mark Martin would use his state staff to engage in an obvious attempt to bully me,” Inman said.
According to the from the Secretary of State’s office, Inman’s campaign website contained a voter look-up system and voter registration applications that were not attributed to the secretary of state’s official website.
“You should not be utilizing programs or material paid for with state dollars in support of your campaign without attribution,” the letter states. “Your campaign’s use of any information captured from the data entry screen, without notice to the voter, may be a violation of state and federal law.”
The letter from Martin’s office contains screen shots of Inman’s campaign website with the disputed material. Inman told 5NEWS on Monday (Oct. 20) she now is linking to the material from the mobile version of the secretary of state’s site, not the desktop version.
Martin, a Republican, is seeking re-election. In addition to Inman, Jacob Holloway, a Libertarian, is vying to unseat Martin in the Nov. 4 election.
