Mail snafu means young dems miss report deadline

The One Government Center building in downtown Toledo in 2015.

An effort to get the Lucas County Young Democrats to file a semi-annual campaign finance report failed when the certified letter requesting the report was returned to the Lucas County Board of Elections unclaimed.

All the elections board would have had to do was take the letter 19 floors up in Government Center to the mayor’s office because the treasurer of the Young Democrats is Carrie Russell Hartman. Ms. Hartman is the spokesman for Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson.

The Young Democrats’ campaign finance report was on the agenda of the Lucas County elections board Tuesday because the organization had not filed its mid-year report, which was due July 31, as required under state law.

Board Director LaVera Scott said she was not at the time aware of Ms. Hartman’s job in the mayor’s office — located in the same building as the Board of Elections.

The elections board decided to give the leadership of the Young Democrats another chance to respond and turn in a mid-year report. The board will send another letter, this time by regular mail, board members decided in a meeting Tuesday.

Adam Maguire, president of the group, said he heard about the problem and said the letter was delivered to an incorrect address.

“Everything will be submitted correctly,” Mr. Maguire said.

The penalty for a failure to file is a fine of $100 per day. The organization was warned it must submit its reports within 21 days of the letter, dated Aug. 23, to avoid referral to the Ohio Elections Commission.

Contact Tom Troy at tomtroy@theblade.com, 419-724-6058, or on Twitter @TomFTroy.