Aichele has maintained she \u201cdid not realize\u201d she had to report personal contributions.<\/p>\n
On July 31, Colton Black, a Republican challenging Aichele for the treasurer office in November, filed a complaint with the Secretary of State\u2019s Office. He called for a complete investigation into Aichele\u2019s campaign spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis type of disregard for the relevant filing rules is a disservice not just to opposing candidates but, more importantly, to the voters who have a right to transparency and to know the origin of campaign funds in a timely manner,\u201d Black wrote.<\/p>\n
The Secretary of State\u2019s Office on Aug. 14 found the complaint warranted further investigation, and it directed Aichele to explain her mistakes and prove there was no intentional wrongdoing.<\/p>\n After reviewing Aichele\u2019s response, the Secretary of State\u2019s Office found Aichele\u2019s mistakes were \u201cnot an intentional attempt to mislead the electorate or election offices.\u201d<\/p>\n Aichele did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Black said Tuesday he was disappointed in the state\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that sets kind of a precedent that you can file things three years after the fact without penalty, and that\u2019s concerning as a citizen, and it should be concerning to other voters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The state of Colorado originally had fined Aichele $66,500 for the late filings but ultimately waived the fee in July after Aichele pleaded her case that the mistakes were not intentional.<\/p>\n The Secretary of State\u2019s Office said Aichele failed to report 10 contributions of her own money in 2014, and failed to fix her mistake until June 5 of this year.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Respondent (Aichele) failed to timely provide required candidate contribution information, it did provide the information as soon as it knew of the deficiency,\u201d the Secretary of State\u2019s Office said in its decision.<\/p>\n Aichele provided the Secretary of State\u2019s Office \u201cbank records to show that the omitted contributions did originate from the candidate\u2019s (Aichele) bank account during that time period.\u201d<\/p>\n Because Aichele fixed her mistake when she became aware of it and the error was the result of a misunderstanding on Aichele\u2019s part, the Secretary of State\u2019s Office determined her mistake was not intentional.<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, the complaint is dismissed,\u201d the Secretary of State\u2019s Office wrote.<\/p>\n Black said Aichele\u2019s misfilings are a \u201cred flag\u201d for a person who is running to keep track of the county\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n \u201cIt may be acceptable in another race, but when you\u2019re running for treasurer \u2026 your job is to keep the books for the county,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t keep your own books clean, that\u2019s definitely a red flag.\u201d<\/p>\n