OOOPS....Demorats not being fair...
and how about Shark's new item- the binder and confirmation
from KingC elections which state certification is a major
portion of the election compliance (before it was mentioned
as an afterthought).....
Wash. Dems face massive fines for inaccurate reports
05:33 PM PST on Tuesday, March 1, 2005
By ROBERT MAK / KING 5 News
SEATTLE - Washington state’s Democratic party could face thousands of dollars in fines for failing to file accurate reports during the 2004 campaign.
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The penalties could be stiff because this is not a first offense. The Democratic party is already stretched thin with the governor's recount and the growing legal bills. Penalites could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The party acknowledges it made some serious mistakes. In September last year Democrats knew early on that U.S. Senator Patty Murray had a pretty good lead. But the state races were close -- the governor's race and control of the state legislature was at stake.
A month before the election the state Democratic party transferred nearly $400,000 from its federal account to its state account. The transfer was perfectly legal but hardly any details were reported to the state.
"They needed to show the actual sources of those dollars," said Vicki Rippie, executive director of the state Public Disclosure Commission.
It wasn't until last month, nearly three months after the election, that Democrats disclosed exactly whose money it was in a 300-page report with the names of more than 3,000 donors.
The Public Disclosure Commission said Democrats also failed to report how they were spending money.
The Democrats have now submitted details on how they spent more than $800,000, mostly on behalf of legislative candidates.
More than $1 million of Democratic expenditures and contributions weren't properly reported by the time voters went to the polls.
"The reports were substantially out of compliance because they weren't complete and accurate," Rippie said.
The Chairman of the state Democratic party Paul Berendt sent a letter to the PDC saying: "I am, of course, deeply disappointed and concerned...my staff did not alert me to the problem...Had I known, I would have acted aggressively to correct this matter."
The next step could be penalties levied by the commission and they could be severe.
During the 2000 campaign the PDC fined state democrats $250,000 for failing to disclose information. As part of that settlement $100,000 of that fine was suspended as long as Democrats avoided similar problems for five years.
Now, Democrats may have to pay up with the potential for additional penalties.
"We will hold them to their agreements and that the expectation from the public that they report accurately and fully and timely will be enforced," Rippie said.
In his letter to the PDC, Berendt said he has replaced the treasurer who was in charge of filing reports and he has brought in more people to oversee the party's accounting.
The commission is likely to pick up this matter later in spring and it may be referred to the Attorney General. |
