On July 7 someone claiming to be a Cochise County employee accessed a website blog connected to Bill Cloud's campaign for Sheriff, and used the name 'C.C.' to post a lengthy tongue-lashing of Sheriff Larry Dever and some of his supporters.  

The C.C. author had also entered the personal email address of an actual County employee (whose initials are C.C.) in case readers wanted to reply to the posting.

The existence of the posting spread like wildfire through County offices and local public safety agencies. After all, it's rare for an employee to rip the Sheriff in such harsh language.  

Yet despite the intense interest, County officials say it appears we may never know the true identity of C.C., or why the author posted the derogatory comments.

When contacted the next day, the employee denied knowledge of the posting which had already been removed from Cloud's website.  After reviewing an email copy of the posting, the employee further denied writing the comments or letting anyone use the personal email address to do so.   

Cloud and Dever have said they have no reason to suspect the employee, a longtime member of the Sheriff's Office, had any involvement with the posting.  Both candidates have also expressed regret that the employee has been drawn into a campaign controversy.  

Theories have swirled about who really wrote the comments, and why, although the likely 'why' is someone wanted to embarrass or harass Dever, Cloud, or the employee.

But guessing at 'why' is easier than determining 'who.'  

Tom Schelling of the Cochise County Elections Department said his office cannot look into the matter unless a complaint is received.  Schelling cautioned that even if a complaint is filed, objections to individual free speech are not governed by election laws, even if the communication is derogatory, misleading, or libelous.

'A person acting alone does not violate election law when trying to influence the outcome of an election' even if they do so with a fraudulent communication, noted Schelling. He suggested that a complaint to County Attorney Ed Rheinheimer may be a more appropriate avenue to find out who authored the C.C. posting, due to the apparent misuse of a person's identity.

However, a complaint must also be received before Rheinheimer's office can determine if any laws were violated or launch an investigation.

Sources close to both candidates say neither is interested in filing a complaint. With just six weeks left until the September 2 primary election, Cloud and Dever are concentrating on attending voter events where they can discuss and debate campaign issues.   

Cloud called the blog comments about Dever 'inappropriate' and worried the blog controversy would distract voters from the serious issues facing the Sheriff's Office. He said he 'regrets how this has affected (the real C.C.) and the dedicated people' within the Sheriff's Office, adding he does not know who posted the comments, but such 'a tactic is not what I am about, or my campaign.'

Even if a complaint is filed with Rheinheimer, computer experts say identifying the author would be an uphill battle. That's because Cloud's website utilizes a 'no verification' blog program that allows anonymous and unverified postings.

The upside to a no-verification blog is that Cloud's supporters -and detractors- have an open forum to discuss issues without identifying themselves. Considering that the contest between Cloud and Dever has been acrimonious at times, some County employees and local public safety officers who support Cloud have said they appreciate the safety of anonymity.  

The downside to that kind of blog is anyone can write anything they want, and then input any name, phone number, or email address when doing it. Current technology makes it virtually impossible for blog postings on this type of system to be traced.

So for now the July 7 C.C. blog posting lives on via emails and web links, while voters are left wondering who wrote it, and why.