The Arkansas Democratic Party demanded Secretary of State Mark Martin fire one of his employees Wednesday, after announcing that released emails showed the deputy secretary of state communicating with the state Republican Party.
The employee, Joseph Wood, is a Republican candidate for Washington County judge. He could not be reached for comment or to verify the emails.
The emails released by the Democratic Party show that Wood received weekly Republican newsletters on his state email account. He also appeared to send several prepared speeches to a personal email account, both before and after normal work hours. In another email, sent to Wood and secretary of state's office spokesman Chris Powell, a Republican Party spokesman asks for "talkers and new highlighters" involving the office. It was not clear if Wood responded to the email.
The Democrats alleged in a release Wednesday that the emails amount to a violation of Arkansas Code Annotated 7-1-103, which prohibits public servants to "devote any time or labor during usual office hours toward the campaign of any other candidate for office or for the nomination to any office."
A spokesman for Martin's office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The Washington County and state Republican parties each issued statements supporting Wood and dismissing the claims by the Democrats.
"As a man of integrity and high morals, any such accusation by the Democrats is simply being used to cover up the inadequacies of their nominee," Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb said in an email.
According to Democratic Party attorney Chris Burks, the emails were obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request the Democrats filed in August, when the party criticized Martin's office for ordering county clerks to remove names from voter rolls that had been incorrectly labeled as felons.
Burks said more than 25 employees in Martin's office received the Republican Party newsletters. Martin is a Republican and former state representative from Northwest Arkansas.
"We're concerned because the secretary of state's office oversees elections in Arkansas and there's no place for political partisanship in that office," Burks said.
Burks also said the Democratic Party plans to pass along the emails to the Washington County prosecutor. A conviction under the law is a misdemeanor that would make Wood subject to impeachment and ineligible to hold elected office.
Metro on 10/20/2016