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Election board to notify candidate of apparent campaign-finance reporting discrepancies
Summary
After reviewing campaign finance forms and bank statements, the board voted to send a letter asking a candidate (and the candidate’s treasurer) to explain apparent discrepancies between trust payments and campaign filings; a hearing will follow if the response is unsatisfactory.
The Elkhart County Election Board voted July 15 to send a formal notice to a candidate and that candidate’s treasurer seeking explanation for discrepancies found in campaign finance filings.
Board members reviewed a complaint originally filed with a previous clerk in 2024 and followed up in 2025 that raised questions about payments for campaign materials (notably buttons and billboards) that appeared on different CFA (campaign-finance) forms and a trust statement. The board described specific issues: an April purchase listed in one report with a different date in the credit‑card statement, a later October CFA that lists the buttons amount, and evidence that a trust may have paid costs that were not reported as trust payments on campaign filings.
Members described the discrepancies as potentially poor accounting rather than clearly intentional wrongdoing but agreed the candidate should have an opportunity to respond. The board’s procedural plan is to send a letter identifying the discrepancies, allow five days for a written response, and schedule a hearing only if the response is inadequate.
The motion to send notice passed unanimously. The elections office staff will draft the letter and provide the candidate and treasurer the opportunity to explain and, where necessary, correct filings.
