The Citizens Clean Elections Commission will ask an outside auditing firm to examine campaign finance reports filed by District 7 House candidate David Burnell Smith.

Mr. Smith, a Republican, is accused of exceeding the primary election spending limit for publicly funded candidates, failing to pay vendors directly for goods and services and failing to fully describe the nature of the goods and services for which payments had been made.

The five commissioners convened a special meeting Oct. 13 to consider a proposed settlement with Mr. Smith but decided against voting on the matter until they can get more information.

Potential punishment ranges from a fine, which was proposed by the settlement, to disqualification as a candidate, and two individuals urged the commission not to accept the settlement before it does a complete review of whether stronger punishment is warranted.

Barbara Lubin, executive director of the Clean Elections Institute, a private organization that promotes campaign public funding, and Ann Flora, spouse and campaign treasurer for former District 8 House candidate Royce Flora, told the commission Mr. Smith’s overspending could trigger a statutory requirement for disqualification.

The commission’s executive director, Colleen Connor, had negotiated a proposed settlement with Mr. Smith that would levy a $2,500 fine and require him to submit accurate campaign reports.

The commission began looking into Mr. Smith’s finances after receiving a complaint from Thom Von Hapsburg, who ran against Mr. Smith in the GOP primary.

Ms. Connor advised the commissioners that her findings showed that Mr. Smith exceeded the $16,980 primary spending limit by something between $4,232.92 and $15,233.32, depending on how the reports are interpreted.

She said the Smith campaign entries in the secretary of state’s reporting system aren’t clear as to exactly how much Mr. Smith spent during the primary and whether he had spent money before receiving his public funding. State law and commission rules prohibit publicly funded candidates from incurring such debt.

Smith: Software Caused Problems

Mr. Smith told the commissioners that problems with the campaign finance software supplied by the Secretary of State’s Office are continuing and account for the confusing reports.

Mr. Smith asked the commissioners to accept the proposed settlement, in which he would state that he unknowingly committed the violations alleged in Ms. Connor’s findings and would agree to pay the $2,500 fine and not to appeal the enforcement action.

Ms. Lubin said a Clean Elections Institute study of Mr. Smith’s reports shows he may have spent as much as $6,000 more in the primary than he had funds to cover. If he did, she said, he should be disqualified as a candidate or, if he has been elected, should be removed from office. She cited state law by which a violation of this type “involving an amount in excess of 10 per cent of the sum of the adjusted primary election spending limit and the adjusted general election spending limit for a particular candidate shall result in disqualification of a candidate or forfeiture of office.”

Overspending by $6,000 would be overspending by a little more than 21 per cent of this district’s $16,980 primary limit plus its $11,320 general election limit.

“A $2,500 fine would amount to little more than a slap on the wrist,” Ms. Lubin said, adding that this is the first time in the three elections in which public campaign funding has been available that her organization has commented on a particular enforcement case.

With Mr. Smith having recently amended his campaign reports, his campaign finances “are more muddled than ever,” Ms. Lubin said after the meeting.

Mrs. Flora said she too believes the proposed fine is too light.

“This sends a message that you do whatever you want, and if you get caught, then you pay a minimal fine that’s simply little more than a cost of doing business,” Mrs. Flora said.

Ms. Connor said she will know in a week or so whether an audit can be completed in time for the commission’s next meeting Oct. 26. —