Kansas Democratic Party to pay $19K fine for reports’ errors

The Kansas Democratic Party has agreed to pay a $19,000 fine after an audit concluded it had filed incorrect campaign finance reports in 2011 and 2012.

The Federal Election Commission’s audit earlier this year found the party underreported contributions and other receipts by a total of $149,000 in 2011 and 2012. The audit said expenditures were underreported by more than $227,000 during the two-year period.

The audit also said the party failed to keep required monthly logs documenting the time employees worked on federal and state campaign activities.

The commission last month approved the agreement between one of its enforcement attorneys and the party’s attorney.

The Kansas Democratic Party said in the agreement that the problems with its reports were inadvertent and that it took steps to prevent future errors.