U.S. May Audit Shelley's Use of Election Funds

[Freddie Stubbs]

By Tim Reiterman and Evan Halper, Times Staff Writers


SACRAMENTO — A federal agency threatened Wednesday to conduct a full-scale audit to see how Secretary of State Kevin Shelley spent millions of dollars in election funds and whether any were used for partisan purposes.

DeForest Soaries Jr., chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, said he sent a letter to Shelley on Tuesday asking that he explain what effect the controversy surrounding California's use of Help America Vote Act funds would have on the ability of counties to conduct a smooth presidential election.

"We want some facts," Soaries said in a telephone interview. "In the short term, we want to know the impact on local jurisdictions to prepare the Nov. 2 election in five weeks. I don't want for election officials to say on Nov. 3 that we had problems … because money was tied up because of the controversy."

The federal scrutiny is the latest blow to Shelley, whose campaign finances are being probed by federal and state authorities. The news came as records released by Shelley's office showed that employees he hired with voting act money attended Democratic fundraisers and other partisan functions — and submitted reports about the events.

more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shelley23sep23,1,7602240.story?coll=la-headlines-california