Courtesy photo
Dianna Duran
The Farmington Daily Times has recently done some solid reporting to expose lax enforcement of New Mexico campaign finance reporting laws.
Most recently, the newspaper reported Saturday that the number of violations Secretary of State Dianna Duran has referred to the attorney general for possible prosecution remains unclear.
Duran and Attorney General Hector Balderas announced the creation of a task force in late February charged with helping improve campaign finance reporting oversight.
The context, from the newspaper:
In early February, The Daily Times reported that during the 2012 and 2014 primary and general elections, Duran had collected only 4 percent of the nearly 2,000 fines her office had assessed. The Daily Times reported that she waived 34 percent of the other fines, while failing to collect another 62 percent.
According to a Daily Times analysis, 14 candidates had filed 10 or more campaign finance reports late during the election cycles, and there were many other repeat offenders.
Violations of the Campaign Reporting Act and related laws, including filing reports that list donors and expenses late, are generally misdemeanors. Candidate, political committee and lobbyist finance reports are available online.