Saenz, Anna: Alleged violation of RCW 42.17A.235 and .240 for failure to timely and accurately report contributions and expenditures. (OCT'23, EY'23)

Case

#143912

Respondent

Anna Saenz

Complainant

Michelle Perry

Description

PDC staff reviewed the allegation(s); the applicable statutes, rules, and reporting requirements; the response(s) provided by the Respondent; the applicable PDC reports filed by the Respondent; and other relevant information, to determine whether the record supports a finding of one or more violations.

Based on staff’s review, we found the following:

• Anna Saenz filed their declaration of candidacy on May 17, 2023, and a Candidate Registration (C-1) on June 1, 2023, for the Full Reporting option.  On September 27, 2023, Ms. Saenz amended the C-1 and changed to the Mini Reporting option. 
• Per RCW 42.17A.235 and .240, under the Full Reporting option, a committee is required to disclose contribution and expenditure information by submitting Receipts and Expenditure Summary (C-4) reports and Cash Receipts, Monetary Contributions (C-3) reports to the PDC.  The Committee’s due dates for the C-3 and C-4 reports are determined by its activity and participation in the election cycle.
  • RCW 42.17A. 235(5) & .240(2) identify the threshold for required reporting of the identity of contributors and WAC 390-16-308 further directs campaigns on the reporting of the source of a contribution.
  • WAC 390-16-034 directs campaigns to disclose the name and address of each person who made one or more contributions in the aggregate amount of more then $250, their occupation, and the name and location (city and state) of their employer.
  • WAC 390-16-037 directs campaigns on how to report the detail of an expenditure for goods and/or services.
• Per WAC 390-16-105, a candidate or committee is not required to comply with provisions of RCW 42.17A.225 through 42.17A.240, except as otherwise prescribed in WAC 390-16-038, 390-16-115, and 390-16-125, if the committee selects the Mini Reporting option on its Candidate Registration (C-1) and meets both of the following conditions:
  • Does not raise nor expend an amount that exceeds $7,000; and
  • Does not accept contributions from any one person, other than the candidate, which exceeds $500 aggregate.

Candidates and committees choosing mini reporting do not file contribution and expenditure reports, but they must file a registration statement, keep records of their contributions and expenditures, and comply with disclosure requirements.

• No approval is necessary to change from Full Reporting to Mini Reporting as long as the mini reporting limits have not been exceeded.  A candidate is responsible for timely filing the C-3 and C-4 reports that were due during the time they were registered under full reporting.
• Ms. Saenz was responsible for filing C-3 and C-4 reports up until the point that she converted to being a mini filing campaign.  After filing the amended C-1, changing from full reporting to mini reporting, Ms. Saenz filed C-3 and C-4 reports for the period of June through October 2023 on October 23, 2023, and amended on January 8 and 9, 2024.  Ms. Saenz was required to file reports for the period of June through October timely and as such the reports filed on October 23, 2023, and subsequently amended, were filed late.  After this date, Ms. Saenz did not have any further reporting requirement but was required to maintain her books of account throughout her campaign.  Based on the case review, there is no evidence that supports Ms. Saenz violated the requirements associated with being a mini reporter.
• You also stated in your complaint “She is holding events where she is giving away prizes, doing raffles, renting out the city pool, giving out free dinner to the community and collecting ballots and registering people to vote.”  Based on the case review, PDC staff have determined that Ms. Saenz and the other candidates identified in your complaint did attend events together. 
  • It is not prohibited for a campaign to provide food to attendees at a campaign event nor to give prizes, conduct a raffle, or give away “thank you” gifts to attendees for their time as long as the value is nominal and that those items are reported correctly by the campaign in their PDC filings.
  • Ms. Saenz did attend the “Get out the vote” event where the public pool was rented but she did not coordinate the event or contribute to the costs of the event.
  • In this instance, the evidence provided, nor the reports filed by the campaign, support a violation that calls for further investigation.

It is not prohibited for candidates to attend campaign events, civic engagement related events, or “Get out the vote” (GOTV) events with other candidates.  GOTV events aim to increase voter turnout in elections and often focus their efforts on voter registration and encouragement of voting.

Although the law prohibits using campaign funds to make a contribution to another candidate or political committee (other than using surplus funds to give to a political party or caucus committee), it is OK for a candidate to use his or her campaign money to pay for costs to attend an event held by another candidate, a political party or committee so long as attending the event is directly related to the candidate's own campaign and the candidate's campaign only pays the per-person cost of consumables provided at the event. That is, the candidate uses his or her campaign money only to pay for his or her share of the actual cost of food, beverages, preparation, catering and entertainment furnished at the event. If the candidate wishes to pay the full admission charge, he or she must use his or her personal funds to do so.

Candidates may work together, or with other entities, to coordinate campaign events but if there are event costs, attributable to a candidate, then those costs should be shared by all candidates who receive a benefit from the event.  We encourage candidates to directly pay the vendor, their share of the costs, and report their share of the costs as an expenditure in the Online Reporting of Campaign Activity (ORCA) system.

• Ms. Saenz does not have other similar warnings or violations of PDC requirements.

Based on our findings staff has decided that, in this instance, failure to timely file C-3 and C-4 reports during the 2023 election does not amount to a violation that calls for further investigation.

Pursuant to WAC 390-37-060(1)(d), however, Anna Saenz will receive a formal written warning concerning their failure to timely and accurately report contributions and expenditures on the Cash Receipts, Monetary Contributions (C-3) report and Receipts and Expenditure Summary (C-4) report.  Staff expects that they will file all required reports of contributions and expenditures timely and accurately in future years.  If violations of PDC laws or rules occur in the future, the Commission will consider this formal written warning in deciding on further Commission action.

Based on this information, the PDC finds that no further action necessary and has dismissed this matter per RCW 42.17A.755(1).

Disposition

Case Closed with Written Warning

Date Opened

October 24, 2023

Areas of Law

RCW 42.17A.235, RCW 42.17A.240

Documents

• 143912 Anna Saenz Complaint.pdf
• 143912 Saenz_Anna Complaint Return Letter (combined).pdf
• 143912 Saenz_Anna Response(2).pdf
• 143912 Saenz_Anna Response.pdf