Maroon, Everett: Alleged Violation of RCW 42.17A.320 for failure to include sponsor identification and political party affiliation in political advertising. (OCT 2018)

Case

#42706

Respondent

Evereett Maroon

Complainant

Bret Uhrich

Description

The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) has completed its review of the complaint filed by Bret Uhrich on October 24, 2018. The complaint alleged that Everett Maroon, candidate for State Representative in Legislative District 16, Position 1 in the 2018 election, may have violated RCW 42.17A.320 for failure include sponsor identification and political party preference on political advertisement sponsored by the Campaign. 

PDC staff reviewed the allegations; the applicable statutes, rules, and reporting requirements; and the response provided by Everett Maroon, to determine whether the record supports a finding of one or more violations.

Although the general definition of political advertisement and “mass communication” includes text messages, it appears that the text messages sent by the Everett Maroon for 16th Legislative District Campaign were not created with this in mind. Mr. Maroon utilized the services of the “Text Out the Vote” messaging service called Hustle, which is connected with the Washington State Democrats, that creates direct political advertising messages and indirect or get out the vote messages for a variety of users. 

Based on these findings staff has determined that, in this instance, failure to include sponsor identification and political party preference on political advertisement does not appear to be an actual violation warranting further investigation. PDC staff reminded Everett Maroon about the importance of including any required sponsor identification and any required political party preference on political advertisement in accordance with PDC laws and rules. 

Based on this information, the PDC finds that no further action is warranted and has dismissed this matter in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1).

Disposition

Case Closed with Reminder

Date Opened

November 05, 2018

Areas of Law

Areas of law not found

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