Handwritten fliers found on campus last week were deemed racist and sexist by some but were comfortably within rights of free speech.

Last week, ISU Police discovered two fliers on campus that directed readers to “Vote for the White Man,” referring to former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. The fliers also used sexist and racist terms to refer to other Democratic presidential candidates – assumed to be Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Clinton and Obama’s names were not used in the fliers.

The fliers included the name of a Story County resident, Joseph Keller, and referred to him as a 1977 Harvard graduate. Keller could not be reached for comment.

After the initial discovery of the fliers, another was seized in Slater by the Story County Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. Dru Toresdahl of the Story County Sheriff’s Office said the fliers do not appear to violate any laws.

“In the sense of the fliers being derogatory, [they are], absolutely,” Toresdahl said. “But it’s really not a crime to distribute literature – it’s not a hate crime.”

Toresdahl said the fliers would probably not be considered harassment, since they were not directly targeted at an individual and the incident was not repeated.

Iowa State’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity could not be reached for comment.

The Edwards campaign made a statement in response to the fliers saying it was completely uninvolved with the production and distribution of the fliers.

Jennifer O’Malley, director of the Iowa State chapter of John Edwards for President, said the fliers were offensive and unacceptable.

“[The author of the fliers] has nothing to do with our campaign,” O’Malley said. “We do not want his support, nor the support of anyone who shares his views. In fact, [his] views go against everything John Edwards has stood for his entire life – the idea that every person, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to live the American dream.”