Democrats’ donors list tardy, GOP says in filing

The Republican Party of Arkansas cried foul against its Democratic counterpart on Wednesday, complaining to the state Ethics Commission that Democrats failed to file a report on time of their first-quarter donors.

The complaint accuses the Democratic Party of Arkansas of missing the April 15 deadline to file quarterly finance reports. Additionally, the Democratic Party omitted the necessary itemized list of contributions and distributions when it did file a late report with the Arkansas secretary of state’s office on April 24, the complaint said.

Rep. Michael John Gray of Augusta, chairman of the state Democratic Party, didn’t dispute the Republicans’ gripes on Wednesday, but he said his party was fixing the issue.

Gray blamed the snags on a third-party compliance company that handles the party’s financial reporting, and he added that the April 24 report is being amended to comply with the law.

“We’re rectifying it,” he said. “I’m sure that it will satisfy the Ethics Commission.”

Candidates for public office, political parties and political action committees are required to file periodic reports with the secretary of state’s office. Those reports identify candidates’ and groups’ donors and expenses.

The state Democratic Party received “$92,4888.60” and spent $194,531.62 through the first three months of 2018, according to the latest report on file. The one-page document includes only totals, lacking an itemized accounting of contributions and expenditures.

The state Republican Party filed its quarterly report on April 12, documenting $864,127.82 in contributions and $301,741.14 in expenses.