Marion County Election Board Meeting - April 18, 2025
Marion County Election Board Meeting - April 18, 2025
This meeting of the Marion County Election Board, held on April 18, 2025, covered routine administrative items, campaign finance enforcement actions, fine waiver requests, and an update on upcoming electronic poll book procurement. The board unanimously approved minutes, administratively dissolved one campaign committee, and voted to waive two $1,000 late-filing fines after hearing from candidates. Staff reported on defective filings, late filers, and committees with no reports, and outlined next steps for referrals to collections.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jennifer Tersey (candidate for Lawrence City Council) appeared to request a waiver of a $1,000 fine for filing her annual campaign finance report late. She explained that she is a first-time candidate, a full-time investigative paralegal, and a law student. She stated she was unaware of the filing requirement after her campaign manager ceased communication, and that her 13-year-old misplaced the notification letter. She asked for grace, noting the fine equals the cost of her law books. The board unanimously voted to waive the fine.
- David Hoffman (candidate for Lawrence Mayor in 2023) requested a waiver of a $1,000 fine. He explained that a clerical error on his final report (checking 'annual' instead of 'final/disband committee') led to the fine. He corrected the report earlier that week. He noted his 30-year career as a law enforcement officer and former Lawrence police chief, and that he had taken full responsibility. The board unanimously voted to waive the fine.
Discussion Items
- Administrative Dissolution of Campaign Committee: Staff recommended administratively dissolving the committee of Martha Baker Blue (candidate for City-County Council) per statute, as it had not filed reports in three years and had $491 cash on hand. The board unanimously approved the dissolution.
- Defective Reports: Director Becker reported three committees with defective filings: Cynthia Oda (Pike Township Board), DeAndre Thompson (IPS School Board), and Kenneth Allen (two committees – IPS School Board and Center Township Constable). Staff explained efforts to work with these committees to correct errors, including missing treasurers and formatting issues. Counsel clarified that the board’s authority is limited unless a formal complaint is filed, but late-filing fines apply regardless.
- Late-Report Fines: Staff read a list of candidates and committees that filed late for the 2024 annual report, with fines ranging from $50 to $1,000. The fines are automatically assessed by statute. The board does not vote to impose them but can waive or reduce them upon request.
- No-Report-Filed Committees: Staff listed 17 committees that did not file any report, all reaching the $1,000 maximum fine. Special attention was given to Meredith Henby, who withdrew candidacy shortly after opening a committee and never filed. Staff sought board assistance in contacting her to resolve the matter.
- Referral to Collections: Based on the board's 2024 policy, four unpaid fines were identified for referral to the city collections department: Pam Decker ($275), Robin Stewart ($1,000), IPS Community PAC ($300), and Pike Proud PAC ($1,000). Counsel noted that no board vote is required as the policy already authorizes referrals.
- Electronic Poll Books Update: Director Becker announced that staff is working with the purchasing department and ISA to develop an RFP for new electronic poll books, with progress to be reported at the next meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Minutes: Unanimous approval of minutes from August 29, September 6, October 4, October 31, November 14, November 18, and December 12, 2024.
- Administrative Dissolution: Unanimous vote to dissolve the Martha Baker Blue campaign committee.
- Fine Waivers: Unanimous votes to waive the $1,000 fines for Jennifer Tersey and David Hoffman.
- Fines and Collections: No board vote needed on statutory late fines; the board reaffirmed that fines are automatic. Four unpaid fines will be referred to collections per existing policy. The board clarified that the 60-day timeline for collections begins from the date of certified mail notification.
- Robin Stewart Issue: Staff noted that Robin Stewart (Center Township Board) continues to dispute the requirement to file, believing no filing is needed if under $100 raised/spent. The board reiterated that offices paying over $5,000 require filing regardless of activity.
- Next Meeting: The board will schedule future meetings to accommodate fine waiver requests and other business.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good morning, everyone. We will call the Marion County Election Board meeting to order here April 18th at 1002 PM. We'll get started first with introductions. I'll start with the board, uh staff and then council. Council and then yeah, staff, count staff and then council, uh starting with myself, Nolita Stewart, Chair. Good morning, Jennifer Ping, Vice Chair. Kate Sweeney Bell, Secretary. Patrick Becker, Director of Elections. Brad Boswell, outside council. Adam McCreck Corporation Council. Thank you, guys. Good morning. Um we'll go ahead and get started here. First uh area of business is the adoption of the minutes. Um have a little bit of catch-in up here from uh Q4. Um so we have minutes from August, September, two in October, two in November, uh, and December. Uh I know staff sent these over for review previously. Um up on review. Any questions or edits from the board? None here. No. I uh move to adopt the minutes from August 29th, September 6th, October 4th, October 31st, November 14th, November 18th, and December 12th, 2024. Second. Okay, properly motion is second. Uh Kyle Rowe, Vice Chair. Aye. Madam Clerk, aye. Okay, and show the chair voting aye. Okay, we'll move on to the next topic. Um starting with the administrative disband of campaign finance. Uh Director Becker, you want to give an overview. Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, I'm having a some uh my mic is a little disconnected. Literally disconnected. That's all right. That's like what I would do. Sorry, I was uh fiddling with that and destroyed it. Um so uh at the in the reports that you have in your folder, um there are at the very uh back page uh section E of the report is essentially uh what we're talking about with this agenda item. Um and as uh per statute um the board and staff is required uh before the end of January, the last right of January of every year, uh, to review uh committees to see if they qualify or if they meet the criteria for administrative dissolution. Um there's essentially two uh criteria they have to meet. One is that they have not filed a report any time in the last three years, and the other is that uh the reported cash on hand does not exceed um a thousand dollars. Um and so the board has the ability um to um you know it administratively dissolve this. Um if there's no evidence, the committee continues to receive contributions, makes expenditures or is otherwise functional as a committee, um, and according to the best available evidence that it would not impair any contract or impede the collection of debt or judgment by any person. So after our review, which did occur before the end of January by staff, uh there was one committee, uh, which is Martha Baker Blue, uh, which is city county council. Um they have not filed within uh the last three years, and they show um 491 dollars cash on hand and no debts shown to or owed by the committee. Um and so this is the only committee that that met the criteria for us to be able to bring to you to um potentially administratively dissolve. And it would be the the staff's request that you do so it is any questions from the board. No I will make a motion to administratively dissolve the committee of Martha Baker Blue, who was a candidate for city county council. Second, uh properly motion is second, and call rove, vice chair, aye, madam clerk, aye, okay, and show the chair voting aye. Okay, we'll we'll move uh in the report, Director Becker.
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