Berks officials turn over alleged election violations for investigation

Yahoo

30-05-2025

Three allegations of potential finance campaign laws violations in Berks County have been turned over to authorities for investigation.
At a meeting of the board of elections Thursday, members of the county legal team presented a total of five complaints stemming from the May 20 primary election.
Three of the complaints involved candidates who failed to indicate who paid for campaign materials, one involved a letter that appears to have violated the silence period before an election and one involved a text message of unclear origin.
Commissioner Christian Leinbach said that in his 18 years in the post he never remembers having to consider five election violation complaints at one time.
'This is not something that happens on a regular basis,' he said. 'If you look at all of these cases there can be no doubt that in some way, shape or form these alleged actions influence voters and that just should not be.'
Commissioner Michael Rivera encouraged those who are considering running for office to know the laws outlining the process. He also suggested the Democratic and Republican committees in Berks include training for candidates.
'We want to make sure that candidates are running fair races and that candidates are educated about the process,' he said. 'Do your homework.'
The first complaint involved a candidate running for a supervisor post in Alsace Township who failed to include a disclaimer on campaign signs revealing who paid for their production.
First Assistant County Solicitor Cody Kauffman said election officials contacted the candidate to alert him of the violation and were told that he would take steps to remedy the situation. However, the office was never notified if he took appropriate action.
Kauffman said this action is in direct violation of the finance campaign law and recommended the matter be turned over to the district attorney's office for further investigation. The board agreed, voting unanimously to forward the issue to law enforcement.
The second complaint involved a candidate running to represent Washington Township on the board of supervisors who initially failed to include a disclaimer on campaign material sent to voters about who paid for its production.
Election officials reached out to the candidate to make him aware of this violation and the candidate took action to fix the situation by posting a disclaimer on Facebook about who had paid for the materials.
It was recommended the issue not be sent to the district attorney for further review. The board agreed, voting unanimously to throw out the complaint because the candidate made the effort to remedy the problem.
The third complaint involved two candidates running for supervisor posts in Brecknock Township who failed to include a disclaimer on campaign materials revealing who paid for them and did not file the necessary campaign finance reports.
Kauffman said after election officials contacted the candidates that they agreed to add disclaimers to campaign signs and file campaign finance reports. However, the candidates were later found to have handed out materials without the disclaimer following the warning from the county.
He recommended the matter be turned over to the district attorney's office for further investigation. The board agreed, voting unanimously to forward the issue to law enforcement.
The fourth complaint involved an open letter by a resident sent to voters in Robesonia that was critical of some candidates running for mayor and borough council.
Kauffman said the letter could have violated the silence period that prohibits candidates, committees and parties acting on their behalf from placing an advertisement in the 120 hours before an election without giving sufficient notice to the opposing candidate.
But since the letter was sent by a private citizen, Kauffman recommended the board drop the matter. The board agreed, voting unanimously not to forward the complaint onto law enforcement.
The fifth complaint involved an anonymous text message sent to voters a day before the primary that contained negative comments about one of the three candidates running for a county court judgeship.
County Solicitor Christine Sadler said the message may have violated the silence period as well as the disclaimer about who paid for its distribution. The challenge, she noted, is that the county is unable to identify who sent the message.
She recommended the matter be sent to law enforcement for further review. But since one of the candidates in the race is an assistant district attorney, Berks District Attorney John Adams said he will forward the complaint to the state attorney general's office for investigation.
The board voted unanimously to forward the issue to law enforcement.