Beach, Wendy: Alleged Violation of RCW 42.17A.320 for failure to identify sponsor and disclose party preference on political advertising. (OCT 2018)

Case

#42716

Respondent

Wendy beach

Complainant

Norm Smith

Description

The Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) has completed its review of the complaint filed by Norman Smith on October 25, 2018. The complaint alleged that Wendy Beach, a first-time candidate seeking the office of Commissioner for the Pend Oreille Public Utility District, may have violated RCW 42.17A.320 for failure to identify party affiliation on campaign signs and failure to disclose sponsor identification.

PDC staff reviewed your allegations, the statutes and rules, the C-1 report filed by the Campaign, and the response from Wendy Beach.  

Based on our findings and the following facts, staff has determined that in this instance, the failure to identify political party preference and sponsor identification does not amount to a material violation warranting further investigation since: (1) Wendy Beach was not required to list party preference for a nonpartisan office; (2) Wendy Beach was a first-time candidate for public office in 2018; (3) Wendy Beach is a candidate that lost the election and the failure to include sponsor information did not materially impact the public interest.      

PDC staff is reminding Wendy Beach about the importance of disclosing sponsor identification for political advertising as required by RCW 42.17A.320, including the statement: "It is paid for by (name, address, city, state)." It is also PDC guidance that the party preference on the Candidate Registration (C-1 report) should match the party preference on the declaration of candidacy and political advertising.

Based on this information, the PDC has dismissed this matter in accordance with RCW 42.17A.755(1), and will not be conducting a more formal investigation into your complaint or pursuing further enforcement action in this case. 

Disposition

Case Closed with Reminder

Date Opened

November 05, 2018

Areas of Law

Areas of law not found

Documents

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