Colorado's top election official dismisses Gypsum Republican's campaign finance complaints in Eagle Town Council electio

When Tony Martinez, the vice-chair of the Eagle County Republicans, filed campaign finance complaints in October against five candidates running for Eagle Town Council seats, he said he did so in an effort to prove that dark money was flowing into Eagle to help, in his words, “the Democratic side.”

The problem with that insistence, say those who were subject to the complaint, is that the town of Eagle’s charter states that “all municipal elections shall be nonpartisan” and that the candidates in the Eagle Town Council race did not declare a party affiliation. So, even if a hyperpartisan dark money group was attempting to influence the race, that group wouldn’t know who to support.

On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State Andrew Kline granted a motion by the department’s elections division to dismiss Martinez’s complaints, determining that the complaints should be worked out by the town of Eagle, since it is a home-rule municipality that makes its own rules regarding municipal campaign finance complaints.

“The Deputy Secretary agrees with the division that jurisdiction over these municipal campaign finance matters remains with the municipal clerk and not with the Secretary of State,” Kline said in his ruling. “The municipal clerk did not refer the complaints to the division and, in any event, the town of Eagle does not have an ordinance authorizing the referral of municipal campaign finance complaints.”




https://www.vaildaily.com/news/colorados-top-election-official-dismisses-gypsum-republicans-campaign-finance-complaints-in-eagle-town-council-election/