Is Rubio running a dishonest ballot-access campaign?

Many voters would be amazed to learn that presidential campaigns are feverishly working on one of the most basic tasks involved in a run for the White House – gaining access to the ballot in all 50 states.
As the ballot-access deadlines tick by, the latest site for an all-out blitz by the procrastinating campaign teams was Illinois, where Wednesday marked the final day to put all the paperwork and petitions together.

Sen. Marco Rubio’s staff made it, just under the wire, then tried to concoct a story that portrayed the Florida senator as more popular, more thrifty, than the other candidates.  

“With the help of over 400 volunteers in Illinois collecting signatures, Marco qualified for the ballot without having to pay anyone to collect a single signature," a Rubio press release said. "Unlike other campaigns, 100 percent of Marco Rubio for President's ballot access signature efforts have been volunteer based. It's a sign of organizational strength and thriftiness that will get Marco on every ballot using only volunteers." 

Sounds impressive, but the Rubio volunteer effort in Illinois failed to collect the minimal amount of signatures needed and then engaged in a last-minute scramble to recruit college volunteers from across the country. No, they were not paid for their work, but they apparently did receive compensation for their flight, hotel, meals and possibly a few other perks.

Here’s an email that went out from Jake Busby of Students for Rubio on New Year’s Eve:

Another less-than-transparent aspect of this campaign operation involves a simple question: Where did all the money come from?
According to Federal Election Commission records, Students For Rubio had $0 on hand throughout the year, through Dec. 31. Is the official Rubio campaign organization going to report these expenses? Did a Rubio superPAC foot the bill for this “volunteer” operation?

Meanwhile, Rubio’s claim as the thrifty candidate has fallen apart in another aspect of his election activities.  

Politico’s Shane Goldmacher reports that after spending most of 2015 bragging about its thriftiness when it came to flying commercial (coach class), Rubio quietly has been using a private jet almost exclusively for his campaign travel for nearly two months and plans to continue to do so through the primaries.

“The jet-setting represents a dramatic about-face for the Rubio campaign. As recently as last September, Rubio campaign manager Terry Sullivan bragged that ‘Marco flies 95 percent commercial, always coach,’” writes Goldmacher.

“Those days are long over, according to travel records and people familiar with the Rubio campaign's plans. Rubio has traveled overwhelmingly by chartered jet since the Republican debate held in Milwaukee in mid-November. Now, Rubio is spending an estimated tens of thousands of dollars every day to keep a Cessna Citation Excel plane by his side.”

As for the near-fiasco in Illinois, Rubio’s campaign people reportedly filed all the necessary paperwork about one hour before the deadline.
So, how hard is it to avoid this drama, to get someone’s name on the ballot and provide a list of Rubio delegates in one of the largest states in the nation?
All the Rubio campaign had to do was secure signatures from 0.5% of registered voters in each of Illinois' congressional districts. In this case, they turned in 5,000 signatures representing support for their candidate in a state with 13 million people.

What’s more, in Illinois last-minute filings mean that those candidates are listed last on the ballot – a very big deal, according to strategists, when a large field is in the running.

Here’s a bit more from Politico in a story published on Monday:

“U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign has gained momentum nationwide but his team may have underestimated the difficulty of landing on the Illinois ballot. His campaign filed his 5,000 signatures for his own candidacy (on Monday) but couldn’t seal the deal … for accompanying delegates. The campaign says everything will be in by Wednesday’s deadline.
“A Rubio spokesman blamed the delay on its reliance on volunteers, saying other camps paid firms to help circulate petitions. ‘We filed for the statewide ballot today and will file the delegate slate in the next day or two. Unlike the other campaigns, our effort is 100 percent volunteer based’ Alex Conant said in an email. ‘It’s a sign of organizational strength (and thriftiness!) that we will get on every ballot using only volunteers.’

And here’s a post-mortem on this situation from the state capital newspaper in Springfield, the State Journal-Register: 
“While Rubio, the Republican U.S. senator from Florida, filed petitions Monday for the statewide presidential preference contest, a full slate of congressional-district-level delegate candidates for Rubio was filed during the final hour of the filing period Wednesday, according to Bob Grogan, the DuPage County auditor working on Rubio’s statewide petition effort.

“A lottery will be held among final-hour filers for last ballot position … just as those who filed at 8 a.m. Monday have a chance at top ballot position.”

This Facebook post from Langston Bowens of Michigan
 demonstrates the nationwide effort to get Rubio on the Illinois ballot.