MC Election Board holds campaign finance violation hearing

The Marshall County Election Board members opened a hearing Friday afternoon to hear testimony concerning a violation on a campaign finance report filed by Stan Klotz.

a complaint was filed by Nicole Haskins in april where she claimed that Klotz did not include a banking institution on his campaign finance report that would hold campaign donations. The board found that to be a violation in a subsequent public meeting and set the hearing for Friday, May 13, at 12:15 p.m at the Clerk’s Office.

During the hearing, the board adopted hearing rules and Klotz was placed under oath. The rules included that the clerk would present information on the matter with comments given by representative with a decision to be made by the board with a unanimous vote.

Clerk Deb Vandemark presented documents to be included on the record in the matter. She stated that the documents showed that Klotz filed forms to establish a committee on Jan. 16, 2018 that showed Lake City Bank as the depository bank when Klotz ran for the commissioner in a prior election. That committee was disbanded on Jan. 2, 2019. On Dec. 13, 2021, another committee was opened for his current campaign which Vandemark said did not show a bank or depository on the forms. On Dec. 20, 2021, Klotz showed a $10,000 donation from an individual, but did not amend the form to show a bank account. On Jan. 11, 2022, he filed a Pre-primary report and did not amend the bank account information. He later corrected the form and noted that he opened a bank account at Lake City Bank on Feb. 18, 2022.

Vandemark said the other item to be looked at was co-mingling of funds of a committee with personal funds of an officer. If the board decides the person is subject to a civil penalty, it cannot exceed $1,000. The penalty could be reduced if approved by a unanimous vote of the Marshall County Election Board.

Klotz stated that he made mistakes on his form and did not know what he did was wrong. He said he filed his donation and listed all donations. He accepted responsibility that he made this mistake.

Klotz commented, “I did not realize I made a mistake. I just took that check and stuck it in my personal account to make sure it didn’t get away, because in December I wasn’t thinking about campaigning. I mean, it’s the bottom line. I wasn’t thinking about it. I just didn’t want it to get away and had I realized I obviously would have done things differently.”

Election Board Member Rick Huff asked Klotz if any part of the donation was used for personal expenses and Klotz said no. He said he put the funds into a savings account to ensure that it would be separate. He said $15,000 was spent, including $5,000 of his own money.

Vandemark, who is an Election Board member by virtue of her office, asked Klotz if he moved that money to his campaign account to which he replied, “No, I did not.” He admitted that his spent it on his campaign out of his savings account.

Huff said documentation from the bank to show those transactions would not change the outcome of the board.

Election Board President Sean Surrisi said the board should find that there is a violation and determine a penalty. He suggested anywhere between $500-$750, but Huff thought $500 would be acceptable.

Huff thought there was no improper intent.

Klotz said that he would “wholeheartedly accept any penalty.”

Nicole Haskins was placed under oath prior to her testimony. She thought that that the law should be followed concerning co-mingling of funds which is a misdemeanor offense per code, and that Klotz continued to make mistakes on his forms.

In the end, the Marshall County Election Board voted unanimously to determine that there is a violation of the statute and fined Klotz a $500 civil penalty. A written order was produced on the decision. The paperwork may be sent to the Marshall County Prosecutor for review.

The board gave Klotz two weeks in order to settle the penalty.

Another hearing was scheduled for Friday, but it was continued to Wednesday, May 18 at 2:30 p.m. in the Clerk’s Office.

In other business during Friday’s meeting, the board rejected three provisional ballots. One voter did not come to the Clerk’s Office to provide an ID by the deadline as an ID was not produced on Election Day, while two other mailed ballots were received after Election Day.