If you are a Realtor in Georgia, you may indirectly be a party to campaign violations in the last election cycle. What the Georgia Association of Realtors call a mistake, the State Ethics Commission calls election fraud. More than $400,000 in campaign contributions were never disclosed during the 2006 election cycle.
Odds are this is a mistake as the Realtors have been huge contributors in state politics over the years. What is interesting is that they face an $80,000 fine for their failure to follow the law. And if things have not changed, making a mistake when breaking the law does not absolve the parties.
State law allows groups to set up independent committees to promote candidates and causes. Realtors for Casey Cagle collected $216,000 from the Georgia Association of Realtors last year, then spent $208,000 on advertising, according to campaign disclosure reports.
Such groups can claim independence as long as they don’t coordinate their efforts with a candidate. It allows them to get around contribution limits. For instance, under state law, the Georgia Association of Realtors could only have contributed $10,000 directly to Cagle’s campaign last year.
Realtors for Casey Cagle listed the same address as the Georgia Association of Realtors on their filing documents. via ajc.com.
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