League not liable for fine, district attorney rules

STAFF REPORT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — The Lawrence County League of Women Voters is off the hook for $1,750 in election violation fines.

District Attorney John Bongivengo has told the county elections board that he believes the league didn’t endorse candidates when it ran two ads in a local newspaper before last November’s election.

The ads urged voters to write in six candidates to finish filling 11 seats on a study commission that would study whether to recommend a new form of government for the county.

The elections board had fined the league $1,750 after it named seven candidates in the ad who were willing to be write-ins, saying that naming them constituted endorsements.

The board contended the league owed $250 each for seven candidate authorization forms that would show the candidates agreed to have their names in the ads.

The league argued that it didn’t owe the money because it didn’t endorse the candidates. League president Ruth Ray has said that by naming seven people, the league offered a choice without indicating any preferences.

The board also fined the league for not registering as a political action committee before it ran the ads, and for not filing an expense report.

The league took the position that it couldn’t register as a PAC because its bylaws prohibit it from doing so.

Fines had totaled $2,250. Bongivengo wrote the league a letter this summer saying that if the league didn’t register as a PAC and pay its fines, he would prosecute.

The league responded through its attorney that it would register as a PAC, along with a disclaimer that it didn’t intend to act as one. The league also would file an annual report and pay late filing fees.

But it contended it shouldn’t have to file candidate authorization reports.

Bongivengo told the elections board in a letter dated Oct. 15 that he is satisfied with what the league already has paid.

“I realize you are in disagreement,” he said. “However, it is my opinion that the league promoted the ballot question and not each individual candidate. As such I am regarding the matter ... closed.”