The Idaho Republican Party v Ysursa

Filing 67

ORDER. The parties submitted electronic copies of depositions with the objections included as electronic sticky notes. The Court has written its rulings to the objections on those same electronic sticky notes. The Court will attach a print out of the relevant depositions pages, along with the electronic sticky notes, to this Order. These will constitute the Court's ruling on the objections. Signed by Judge B. Lynn Winmill. (Attachments: # 1 Adams, # 2 Barrett, # 3 Beck, # 4 Bowers, # 5 Kulczyk, # 6 Mansfield, # 7 Maxwell, # 8 Ripley, # 9 Vance)(caused to be mailed to non Registered Participants at the addresses listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by cjm)

The Idaho Republican Party v Ysursa

Doc. 67 Att. 3

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THE DEPOSITION OF ROD BECK was taken on behalf of the Defendant at the offices of the Deputy Attorney General Civil Litigation Division, 954 West Jefferson Street, Boise, Idaho, commencing at 9:00 a.m. on September 15, 2010, before Cindy L. Leonhardt, Registered Professional Reporter and Notary Public within and for the State of Idaho, in the above-entitled matter. APPEARANCES: For the Plaintiffs: Troupis Law Office P.A. BY CHRIST T. TROUPIS 1299 E. Iron Eagle, Suite 130 P.O. Box 2408 Eagle, Idaho 83616 For the Defendant: Deputy Attorneys General Civil Litigation Division BY MICHAEL S. GILMORE 954 West Jefferson Street P.O. Box 83720 Boise, Idaho 83720-0010

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INDEX TESTIMONY OF ROD BECK Examination by Mr. Gilmore Examination by Mr. Allen Further Examination by Mr. Gilmore

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EXHIBITS 1 - Affidavit of Rod Beck

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APPEARANCES (Continued): For the Intervenors: Givens Pursley LLP BY GARY G. ALLEN 601 West Bannock P.O. Box 2720 Boise, Idaho 83701

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(Exhibit 1 marked.) ROD BECK, first duly sworn to tell the truth relating to said cause, testified as follows: MR. GILMORE: For the record I'll state my name. My name is Michael Gilmore, I'll be conducting the deposition. I represent the defendant, Secretary of State Ben Ysursa. MR. ALLEN: My name is Gary Allen with Givens Pursley law firm. I represent the intervenors. MR. TROUPIS: And my name is Christ Troupis, and I represent the plaintiffs, Idaho Republican Party and Norm Semanko. MR. GILMORE: And then just to explain what's going on a little bit, Mr. Beck, before I actually ask you any questions, because there's a possibility that your affidavit will be introduced into evidence until we get this deposition, I'm going to make some formal objections, and then I'll start asking your questions. 1 I'll make the following formal objections: In Paragraph 3, I'll object to the
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Summary of Comments on Beck Deposition.ptx
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Number: 1 Author: csmith Objections to Beck Affidavit Subject: Sticky Note Date: 10/3/2010 4:45:19 PM Author: lwinmill Subject: Sticky Note Date: 10/12/2010 7:05:54 AM Sustained as to para 3. Conclusory as to "evidence of cross over voting." Hearsay as to unattributed statements by persons contacted by Mr. Beck. Sustained as to para 4 statement that IEA is "Democratic teachers union." Not hearsay, but is Mr. Beck's opinion which is not relevant and there is no showing fo any foundation as to what he bases that opinion on. Substained as to para 5. Opinion, no foundation, conclusory and assumes facts not in evidence. Sustained as to para 6. Opinion, no foundation, conclusory and assumes facts not in evidence.

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on them. Q. The current Idaho Republican Platform calls for repealing the 17th Amendment, which gives people the right to vote for United States senators. Most people who would call themselves Republicans probably don't support that, do they? A. I wouldn't know. Q. The platform also calls for abolishing the Federal Reserve and requiring that the dollar be backed by gold and silver. Now, probably most people who consider themselves Republicans don't support that either, do they? A. I wouldn't know that, either. Q. Do you have to support those kinds of things to be a Republican? A. Not necessarily. In fact, I presented -- it's also part of the platform now to ask candidates to tell us which part of the platform they do or do not support. Q. So you can not support things in the platform as a candidate as long as you disclose that; that's the current position of the party, or your understanding of it? A. The platform has never been a document that has required absolute fealty to the
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of a Democrat, but he didn't want to swear a party allegiance, so he chose, when he moved to Oregon, to -- he can't participate in the primary elections. MR. GILMORE: I'll just object to the answer as hearsay, but just continue. THE WITNESS: But he told me that personally. I don't know if that's hearsay or not. MR. GILMORE: Well, Mr. Troupis knows what I'm doing. I'm just building a record. Q. (BY MR. ALLEN) Well, I guess what I'm really interested in here is if you're a voter and you want to participate in the Republican primary or call yourself a Republican, you're not saying that you have to support the entire Republican platform, correct? A. I'm saying that generally -- since 1994, when the Republican Party took over control of congress, they came out with a document. It wasn't the -- it was all these candidates for the House of Representatives in 1994 -- they called it the "Contract with America" -- it was generally designed around the Republican platform. It wasn't necessarily all in the
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document. Q. Well, I'm confused, then, about a number of things you said in your affidavit about how concerned you were about how Bunderson and Bastian took positions contrary to the platform, but you don't require fealty to it. What's the difference? A. There's two parties, two major political parties, in the United States of America, and other minor political parties, and generally, people who claim to be Independent. Generally, the Independent people, according to our survey that we took, the Independent people generally were more to the left on the political spectrum and simply just didn't want to be identified as a Democrat, so they claim to be Independent as opposed to taking on an affiliation. 1 In fact, a good example of that would be Ben Staples. Ben Staples is a journalist, used to live in Idaho, lives in Oregon now. He personally told me that Oregon has party registration, and he used to routinely vote in Republican primaries in the state of Idaho, even though he generally considered himself to be more

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Republican platform, because it was specific policy documents. In 1994 the Republican Party said we're going to do these things related to our party's platform, and the people of the United States supported them in large measure. Over a period of time, and leading up to 2006, the Republican Party had fallen away from those principles, and people had left them in droves, and that's the reason that they lost control of the House of Representatives in 2006. Right now there's such a thing called the "Tea Party." Tea Party is not even an organization that has a particular -- a platform, but they generally have principles involving government, involving tax policy, and they want people to run for office -- or they want to support people who will actually do what they say. And if you represent -- when you represent yourself as a Republican, that typically carries with it a certain franchise. And then when you do not -- when you get in office and you do not support that franchise, that's when Republicans lose elections.
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Number: 1 Author: csmith Objection to deposition question Subject: Sticky Note Date: 10/3/2010 4:45:52 PM Author: lwinmill Subject: Sticky Note Sustained. Hearsay. Date: 10/12/2010 7:07:31 AM

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Q. Okay. So the question was: If you're a voter and you wanted to declare yourself to be a Republican, you don't have to support everything in the platform, do you? A. No. Q. Do you have to support anything in the platform? A. No. Q. Could you become a Republican simply because that's where there's more competitive primaries and you have a say? A. Yeah. Q. So I guess I am failing to see how changing to voter registration, which is what the party has requested here, is going to solve anything. Explain to me how it solves anything. A. There are embodied in the United States Constitution the freedom of association. The Idaho Republican Party included in that freedom of association is a freedom to not associate. The Republican Party, while some people may think it's stupid, the Republican Party has a right to be stupid. We're not a state organization, we're a private organization, and the Republican Party can make those selections
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parties and the supported candidates, like the Ada County Republicans and Democrats, correct? A. Yes. Q. Now, you're not saying that the Ada County Democrats formally supported any of your opponents, are you? A. I don't believe the Democratic Party supports crossover voting. It's not in their interest. Q. Okay. So now when you talk about the Idaho Education Association, it is not affiliated with the Democratic Party in the same way that the Ada County Democrats are, is it? A. There's not a formal affiliation, but the majority of the leadership of the union consider themselves Democrats. Q. But how about the membership? Many IEA members consider themselves to be Republicans, don't they? A. I think that would be a fair assessment. Q. And many people who support public education and the positions of the IEA consider themselves to be Republicans; isn't that true? A. I do not believe that the general broad
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that they choose to make. The Republican Party has asked numerous times -- in fact, that's the subject of this lawsuit -- to allow for party registration. The State of Idaho has continually and repeatedly denied that capability. Our constitutional rights are being violated. Q. That didn't answer the question of how it solves the problem. How does it make the electorate more to your liking in the primary? A. I don't know that that's the objective. Q. Okay. What is the objective? A. The objective is to have -- that the Idaho Republican Party has chosen to allow people who will profess publically to be a member of the party to choose party candidates. The State of Idaho continually refuses our constitutional freedom of association. That's the objective. Q. I see. I have a few questions about the organizations that you have complained that your opponents were -- their positions were associated with them. There are some political organizations that are specifically affiliated with political

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term support of education and support of the IEA is synonymous. Q. All right. So let's just say people who support the public education positions of the IEA would consider themselves to be Republicans. A. Not necessarily, because a lot of people don't really even know what the positions of the IEA are. Their positions are not really reflective in -- the positions of the Idaho Education Association has little or nothing to do with the education of our children and everything to do with the enhancement of salary and benefits for their members. 1 Q. And isn't it true that the IEA backs numerous Republican candidates, including your opponents, correct? A. The IEA made a strategic decision in the late '80s. They routinely -- up until the late '80s -- routinely supported, exclusively, Democrats. They concluded that they were not being as successful in electing candidates that would support their position. They shifted then and said, Well, now what we need to do, because Idaho has this open
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Number: 1 Author: csmith Objection to deposition question Subject: Sticky Note Date: 10/3/2010 4:46:14 PM Author: lwinmill Subject: Sticky Note Date: 10/12/2010 7:09:37 AM Sustained. Foundation as to basis of statement. If foundation is laid, it will likely be based on hearsay and be objectionable for that reason as well.