ALENE HEART – Anonymous political messages related to the Community Library Network’s trustee race sparked a flurry of complaints this week from residents who say the materials violate Idaho campaign finance laws.
The Kootenai County Elections Office confirmed Friday that it has so far received 16 formal complaints about double-sided cards mailed to voters without any indication of who paid for them. The cards were sent through a bulk mail account from Spokane, but the identity of the sender is unknown at this time.
Idaho law requires that direct mail or any other type of general public political advertising clearly state who is responsible for the communication.
The League of Women Voters of Kootenai County, a nonpartisan group that promotes civic engagement in government, filed one of the complaints.
“We seek to ensure our government serves the people, not wealthy special interests, by promoting transparency, limiting SuperPACs and eliminating dark money,” the group said in a statement shared with The Press on Friday. “‘Paid for’ disclosure on political advertising helps give voters an indication of which candidates and parties are willing to abide by the law and who is paying to influence our elections.”
The messenger claims North Idaho libraries are lending unspecified “pornographic and sexually explicit” material in the children’s section and urges voters to support library trustee candidates Tim Plass and Tom Hanley, who have campaigned on pledges to restrict or eliminate access to books they consider objectionable. .
The letters also criticized incumbent candidates Regina McCrea and Judy Meyer, claiming they have not removed unspecified books.
At a candidate town hall at the library last week, Hanley and Plass denied knowing who sent the mail, though Hanley said he should thank the person responsible.
“This single mailing is not an isolated case,” said the complaint filed by the League of Women Voters, which was filed with the county elections office as well as the Idaho Secretary of State. “In recent years it has been assumed that electoral laws have not been strictly enforced and this reduces confidence in elections.”
Kootenai County Clerk Jennifer Locke said her office is sending the complaints directly to Prosecutor Stanley Mortensen.
In Idaho, violating campaign finance law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a civil fine of up to $250 for an individual or up to $2,500 for a group or entity.
