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Voters league’s request for lesser fine is denied
The county prosecutor has warned the league to correct the violations.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. — The Lawrence County League of Women Voters asked for a reduced fine for what the county elections board says are election violations, but the board denied the request.
The league, in a letter from its lawyer to the board’s solicitor, asked to pay $500 in fines rather than the $2,250 originally imposed.
The board, at a meeting Tuesday, voted unanimously to continue to require the league to pay the $2,250 for not filing proper paperwork to become a Political Action Committee before the November election.
The fines stem from two ads the league ran in a local newspaper urging voters to support forming an 11-member commission to study whether to recommend a different form of government for the county.
Five candidates were already named on the ballot, but the number on the panel had to be 11.
The ads named seven commission candidates who were willing to be write-ins, and urged voters to “write in six on Nov. 6.” Because the league supported an issue and because it named candidates in the ads, it was acting as a PAC, the elections board contends. Including the candidates’ names constituted endorsements, the board says.
County prosecutor John Bongivengo wrote a letter to the league in June indicating that it must take steps to correct the violations.
The board, at a July 1 meeting, announced it would fine the league and gave it 30 days, or until 4 p.m. Friday, to register as a PAC, file an expense report and file forms that indicate the candidates had authorized the PAC to act on their behalf. The fine breaks down into late fees of $250 each for the late registration, the late expense report and the seven late authorization forms.
League president Ruth Ray has told The Vindicator that the organization cannot register as a PAC because that is against its bylaws.
In a letter to the board’s solicitor, Thomas Leslie, the league’s attorney, Jonathan Solomon, offered a “settlement of the charge.”
Solomon said the league would file a registration and pay the late fee of $250, along with a disclaimer that it did not intend to act as a PAC.
He also said the league would file an annual report and pay the late fee of $250.
But he contended the league should not be required to file candidate authorization reports.
“The league did not intend to support particular candidates against others but endorsed all candidates running,” the letter says.
Marlene Gabriel, the county’s director of elections, told the board she didn’t know if it could accept the PAC registration without the authorization forms. “The law tells us these two go together,” she said.
“In the future, the league promises to be more careful in this regard and hopefully now has a better understanding of the filing requirements,” Solomon said in his letter.
Board member Frank Piccari said that he wondered what would happen “down the road” if the board gave the league a break.
Board member John R. Seltzer said it wasn’t about giving the organization a break. “We’re looking at what the law requires,” he said.
Ray, contacted after the meeting, said she would have no comment on the board’s action because she did not have official notice of it