By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Wood County Board of Elections voted this morning to ask the Ohio Elections Commission to investigate the issue of anonymous campaign donations to an anti-school levy group prior to the November election.
The four members of the board of elections – Republicans John Cuckler and Jon Jakubowski, and Democrats Andy Newlove and Mike Zickar – unanimously voted to ask the Ohio Elections Commission if the refusal to identify campaign donors complies with the Secretary of State’s administrative rules.
Cuckler made the motion to send the matter to the elections commission. Zickar asked that the request to the commission also note that based on an opinion from the Wood County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the board of elections does not believe the anonymous filing complies with law.
“We’re sending it down,” Zickar said.
“I think transparency is key and elections suffer when there are hidden influences,” he said.
Wood County Board of Elections Director Terry Burton cautioned that the elections commission will have to conduct its own investigation, so an answer won’t be quick.
“I would expect their process to be rather lengthy,” he said.
The board of elections members aren’t the only ones wanting answers.
Bowling Green citizen Roger Mazzarella announced this morning that he has filed an official complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission.
At issue is whether anonymous donors who campaigned against the Bowling Green City School levy are required to reveal their identities.
Ohio election law requires that campaign donors and those who pay for election ads must be identified. But one anti-school levy campaign, called “Bowling Green Levy Facts,” in the last election refused to identify the source of more than $10,000 in advertising against the school levy, which lost by 32 votes.
The campaign refused to identify any donors – claiming anonymity protected by the First Amendment. The attorney hired by “Bowling Green Levy Facts” stated in a letter to the board of elections that his client does not need to reveal his identity “We are filing the enclosed report on behalf of our client who wishes to remain anonymous,” the letter from attorney Donald J. McTigue, of Columbus, stated.
Never faced with such a claim, the Wood County Board of Elections asked the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office to review the request for anonymity. Asking for the prosecutor’s office to get involved is standard practice in cases where the other entity involved has legal representation, Burton explained.
Mazzarella said after this morning’s meeting that he hopes the anonymous donors are made to reveal themselves, and possibly pay a fine.
“They have not complied with the law – $10,000 is a lot of money,” he said.
Another Bowling Green citizen, Ken Rieman, agreed.
“I think if we have the law, it needs to apply to everybody,” Rieman said.
In his complaint to the Ohio Elections Commission, Mazzarella wrote: “One of the main themes of the anti-levy campaign was a call for more transparency and accountability of the BG City Schools administration and board. It is interesting and ironic that one campaign against the issue refuses to identify the source of over $10,000 spent to defeat the issue, claiming a First Amendment right to anonymity.
“It is logical to conclude that if there is no action by the Wood County Board of Elections and/or other state agencies, there will be a new precedent established in Wood County (and indeed in the entire state of Ohio) allowing anyone to hide behind the guise of anonymity during any election for or against an issue or candidate,” Mazzarella wrote in his complaint to the Ohio Elections Commission. “The electorate has the right to know who is financing campaigns for and against ballot issues and candidates and why.”
The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office is also looking into the refusal of “Bowling Green Levy Facts” to identify donors.
“We’re in the facts gathering stage,” Jon Keeling, communications director of the Secretary of State’s Office said Dec. 30. “We want the law enforced. There are steps that we can take.”
The Secretary of State’s Office is following the case, an official stated this morning.
“We are certainly following the issue closely and look forward to hearing about the board’s next steps. The Secretary certainly believes in appropriately enforcing Ohio’s campaign finance laws,” Maggie Sheehan, of the Secretary of State’s Office, said in an email this morning.
The Ohio Campaign Finance Handbook states that contributors may not remain anonymous by request. “If a donor does not want to be identified, then the contribution should not be made,” the handbook states.
After hearing about the Wood County Board of Election’s decision this morning, Secretary of State Frank LaRose tweeted: “Received word today of @WoodCoBOE’s unanimous decision to refer an individual submitting anonymous campaign finance reports to the Ohio Ethics Commission. This is a positive step and I applaud Wood Co for taking swift action to enforce the law in favor of transparency.”
