'Vote and get clean underwear'

2004-10-06 08:26

Lansing - Republicans say filmmaker Michael Moore should be prosecuted for offering underwear, potato chips and Ramen noodles to college students in exchange for their promise to vote for John Kerry.

The Michigan Republican Party has asked four county prosecutors to file charges against Moore, charging that his get-out-the-vote stunt amounts to bribery.

"We want everyone to participate in this year's election, but not because they were bribed or coerced by the likes of Michael Moore," said Greg McNeilly, executive director of the state Republican Party.

Moore, a Michigan native, is touring the country and imploring "slackers" who usually don't vote to head to the polls this year, saying they could make the difference in the presidential race. He has made stops at three Michigan universities as part of a 60-city pre-election tour.

Vote for Kerry

During each programme, habitual non-voters are invited on stage to pledge to vote for Kerry. First-time student voters are offered gag prizes such as clean underwear.

The Republican party said Moore also offered students a clean dorm room, a year's supply of Tostitos and a package of Ramen noodles.

The party said it asked the prosecutors to charge Moore with violating Michigan's election law, which prohibits a person from contracting with another for something of value in exchange for agreeing to vote.

Maria Miller, a spokesperson for the Wayne County prosecutor's office, refused to comment on the matter. Calls to Moore and the other prosecutors were not immediately returned on Tuesday.

- AP