Lucas County Democratic Party Chairman Ron Rothenbuhler has reportedly filed a complaint on June 29 with the Ohio Elections Commission in Columbus against Douglas DeCamp, a Toledo City Council candidate for District 6.

The complaint alleges that DeCamp, a Republican, has purchased and displayed signs as well as campaign material that display a political disclaimer listing a treasurer, but there was no filing of a “designation of treasurer” form done with the Lucas County Board of Elections as required by Ohio election laws.

Ohio law states before receiving a contribution or making an expenditure a candidate must file a designation of campaign treasurer form. Lori Jacek of the Lucas County Board of Elections confirmed DeCamp had not filed a designation of treasurer form as of June 28.

Complaints of this nature are under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Elections Commission. If a violation is found by the commission it can levy a fine of $15 up to $500 for each day a violation occurred. Another section of the Ohio Revised Code states that a candidate must be in compliance before being certified for nomination or election.

“In my experience on the Board of Elections I’ve been to two conferences and they beat the rules into your head. When I ran for school board and was successful out in Oregon the first thing that my friend and attorney told me is you don’t take [funds without] a designation of treasurer form,” Rothenbuhler said.

“I would think we all live up to the same rules, which really since everybody is really careful about rules in the Board of Elections, and everything I’ve seen lately is that whatever the rules say you should or shouldn’t do I would hope that those same rules apply to everybody.”

A request for comment from DeCamp on the filing of the election complaint was made on June 29.

District 6 Toledo City Councilwoman Lindsay Webb recently announced her intention to seek re-election. Webb, a Democrat took office January 2008.

“It’s unfortunate that Mr. DeCamp, as a first time candidate, appears to have violated Ohio’s election laws,” Webb said. “It is critical

that these laws be followed, they were created to ensure fair play in our election process.”

More on this story as it develops.

Tags: City of Toledo, District 6, Douglas DeCamp, Election 2011, Lindsay Webb, Lucas County Democratic Party

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Community, Election 2011.
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