PORT ANGELES — A complaint that Clallam County Auditor Cathleen McKeown broke the law by electioneering will be passed to the Port Angeles city attorney today for review.
McKeown could be cited for a misdemeanor or accused of a felony.
McKeown’s pickup truck was parked in front of the Clallam County courthouse last Tuesday evening with a campaign sign on the side.
McKeown is running for re-election, but did not face an opponent in the primary.
Tuesday was the final day for voting in the state’s primary election and a drop box and a special polling booth were still open to the public.
Anne Doig, an employee of the county Assessor’s Office who saw McKeown’s truck parked in a loading zone, filed a written statement with the Port Angeles Police Department Friday.
McKeown refused to move her truck after Doig told her she was violating the law, Doig said.
In the statement Doig, of Sequim, said she confronted McKeown and contacted Port Angeles Police officers.
She asked the police to enforce the law, but they declined to do so, she said.
“I was told they couldn’t get involved,” Doig wrote.
City attorney to review
Deputy Chief Terry Gallagher said investigators would forward reports to City Attorney Bill Bloor today.
If Bloor determines that a misdemeanor was committed, McKeown will be issued a citation, Gallagher said.
If Bloor determines a felony may have occurred the reports will be forwarded to Clallam County Prosecutor Deborah Kelly.
Campaign signs are prohibited within 300 feet of polling places on election days.
McKeown parked her pickup in a turnaround loading zone off Fourth Street, where parking is prohibited.
Attached to the side of her truck was a sign urging votes for her.
Under another provision in state law, an election official found to have violated an election law can be charged with a felony and forced to surrender the office.
“Those are the kinds of issues the city attorney needs to answer for us,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher said Port Angeles Police officers have jurisdiction in the courthouse parking lot and that the officers gave Doig bad information or there had been a misunderstanding.
Gallagher did note that it is unusual for officers to enforce election laws.
“It’s rare that we’ve had such a complaint,” Gallagher said.
McKeown: Not on ballot
McKeown said she has done nothing wrong.
“How can I be electioneering when I’m not on the ballot?” she said.
She said she parks her vehicle outside the front doors to the courthouse when working late so she doesn’t have to walk through the dimly lit parking lot.
The controversy is not McKeown’s first brush with election laws. She was fined $150 in 2003 by the state Public Disclosure Commission for failing to file a required financial disclosure form.
McKeown first said that she had sent in her disclosure form and then, that she had found both the completed form and two reminders mailed by the disclosure commission in a pile of junk mail at home.
The fine followed a controversy over McKeown’s claiming to be a certified public accountant although she had not submitted a fee for the certificate and never received it.