State superintendent Sherri Ybarra will not be fined for missing a campaign finance reporting deadline.
Secretary of State Lawerence Denney will not impose the $50-a-day fine, Betsy Russell of the Idaho Press reported Sunday.
As Idaho Education News first reported, Ybarra filed her most recent campaign finance report on June 18, four days after the state’s deadline.
The late report doesn’t automatically trigger a fine. Idaho law gives the secretary of state broad discretion to waive a fine, “if on an impartial basis he determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement of the liability will not further the purposes of the act.”
The state rarely fines candidates for filing late reports. Denney also declined to fine lieutenant governor’s nominee Janice McGeachin for missing the state’s June deadline, Russell reported. The state did impose a $400 fine against Alanna Brooks, a North Idaho legislative candidate who failed to fill out paperwork after repeated contacts from Denney’s office.
Brooks is a Democrat. Denney, Ybarra and McGeachin are all Republicans.
Ybarra’s late report also contained an oddity — as she reported she was paying herself back on a $2,400 campaign loan. Previous reports made no mention of a loan, only personal contributions Ybarra made to her campaign. After Idaho Education News inquired about the inconsistency, the secretary of state’s office posted amended reports listing the original $2,400 contributions as loans.
