West Virginia Lawmakers File Election Complaint Against Antiabortion Group

West Virginia Delegates Bonnie Brown (D) and Barbara Fleischauer (D) on Tuesday filed a complaint with Secretary of State Betty Ireland claiming the antiabortion group Life Gauge violated several state campaign laws before the November election, the Charleston Gazette reports. Life Gauge since its formation in 2002 has placed newspaper advertisements grading state legislators based on their voting record on abortion, according to the Gazette. According to the complaint, Life Gauge put advertisements in 15 newspapers during before the November election, asking voters to oppose 12 state Democratic lawmakers, all of whom were elected, and to support two state Republican candidates, one of whom was elected. Pat Maroney, former chair of the state Democratic Party, who helped Brown and Fleischauer file their complaint, said Life Gauge also gave letter grades to several more candidates, at which point the group moved from educating voters to campaigning for candidates. The complaint asks Ireland to investigate Life Gauge for failing to register as a political action committee earlier this year and asks her to require the group to report its expenditures and contributors during the election. The lawmakers also are seeking civil fines against the group if violations are uncovered and asking that any information about criminal violations be submitted to the appropriate prosecutor. Mark Robinson, head of Life Gauge, "has not even filed a report or registered as a lobbyist," Brown said, adding, "Anyone who lobbies for or against the election of candidates should be willing to reveal where his funding comes from. That's why we have election laws." Delegate Harry Keith White (D) has filed a similar complaint in McDowell County, W.Va., Circuit Court against the West Virginia Family Foundation, alleging the group violated state election laws by advocating for his defeat but not reporting its contributors or spending to the secretary of state. West Virginia Family Foundation leaders say they did not break the law (Charleston Gazette, 12/20).

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