The Boone County Republican Party and GOP parties from two other counties have sued Kentucky Registry of Election Finance officials for alleged civil rights violations, citing an advisory opinion they said has chilled their First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit was filed July 22 in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Kentucky by the Boone County, Hardin County and Jessamine County Republican Party executive committees against the registry’s board members and registry executive director John Steffen. It followed a July 8 advisory opinion (2024-02) issued by the registry that said, “A county (political party) executive committee may not use the funds that it raises for party nominees to support a constitutional amendment.”
That opinion, the suit alleges, hinders the executive committees from spending funds to support Amendment 2, a proposed amendment to allow public funding of K-12 education outside of public schools that will be on the ballot this fall. All three parties intend to use the funds to purchase signs, mailers, door hangers and other campaign materials in support of both their 2024 party candidates and the amendment, according to the complaint.
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As of July 22, the Boone County Republican Party had raised approximately $20,000 to support those efforts, said the complaint. It also said the Boone County Republican Party “equally intends to spend in favor of Amendment 1,” a statewide ballot measure that would limit participation in any election within the state to U.S. citizens only.
The executive committees have asked the court via the suit to declare the advisory opinion unconstitutional and issue both a preliminary and permanent injunction in the case. On July 25, the court ordered the registry to respond to the complaint and motions by Aug. 9, with the committees ordered to file their reply no later than Aug. 14.
The court is expected to rule on the motion for a preliminary injunction by Aug. 21, attorneys in the case told LINK. That would give the parties at least three days to meet their deadline to place orders for specific campaign materials, the suit said.
A motion for a temporary restraining order against the registry was denied by the court on July 24.
“Without injunctive relief issued not later than August 21, 2024, Plaintiffs speech will certainly be chilled and their election-related speech and plans will be interrupted,” the lawsuit said in underlined text.
In an email to LINK nky about the lawsuit on Monday, Boone County Republican Party chair Chet Hand said the advisory opinion “makes KREF (the registry) the arbiter of what issues can and cannot be part of our Republican platform and part of our candidate campaigns. This is intrinsically anti-free speech.”
“School choice and education freedom is an integral part of our party platform, and the positions of our Republican elected officials and candidates in our County. KREF does not have the right or authority to determine what our Republican platform consists of, or how we chose to promote it,” he said. “It is also not up to them to determine what strategy our Party uses to get our conservative Republicans elected. In this case, the school choice ballot measure is a key element of our Republican campaign strategy and we intend to spend our resources to promote this ballot measure in part, as a strategic pillar of our general election campaigns.”
If the court doesn’t rule in their favor, the lawsuit said the Boone County Republican Party and Hardin County Republican Party will go ahead and use their funds to campaign in favor of the constitutional amendment, risking additional scrutiny and possible penalties. The Jessamine County party will, however, be held back, said the suit.
“The JCRP, fearing enforcement action, will not do so without injunctive relief,” the lawsuit said.
Violations of state campaign finance law can carry penalties up to $5,000 per violation or potential criminal prosecution based on how the complaint is resolved, according to state law and regulation cited in the suit.
A July 18 email from registry general counsel Leslie Saunders to the parties’ attorney Chris Wiest of Covington addressed the potential for board action cited in the lawsuit. In that email Saunders said she “is not able to say that the Registry would ignore a properly filed complaint nor guarantee how the Board would vote to handle the matter if it was presented to them.”
However, the suit alleges it is the July 8 advisory opinion, specifically, that serves “as a threat of enforcement for those who run afoul of any opinion” issued by the registry as an enforcer of Kentucky campaign finance laws.
According to the opinion, county political party executive committees are allowed to raise and spend funds to promote political party nominees “and perform(s) other activities commensurate with the day-to-day operation of a political party, including voter registration drives, assisting candidate fundraising efforts, holding state conventions or local meetings, and nominating candidates for local, state and federal office.” Members of a county executive committee would have to form a separate committee called a “political issues committee” to raise funds that support or oppose a constitutional amendment, it said.
A political issue committee is defined by state law as “three or more persons joining together to advocate or oppose a constitutional amendment or public question which appears on the ballot if that committee receives or expends money in excess of $1,000.”
An organization search on the registry website Monday did not show any active political issues committees in the three counties involved in the July 22 lawsuit pending against the registry.
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Written by Rebecca Hanchett. Cross-posted from Link NKY.
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