Precinct committee race prompts call for investigation

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint precinct committeeman is claiming letters sent by, or on behalf of, candidates in several precinct elections violate state laws and is calling for an investigation by state and local officials.

“I’m not looking to embarrass anyone but I’m looking to expose what’s going on,” said Allen Hacker, current committeeman for the Humbird precinct.

In his request, Hacker claims the letters constitute election fraud, illegal electioneering and a conspiracy to violate election laws. He claims longtime Republican contributor Mary Jo Ambrosiani and unnamed others were involved in the alleged conspiracy.

Ambrosiani and Bonner County Republican Central Committee officials could not be reached for comment.

Hacker said he and more constitutionally conservative party members drew the ire of others because they sought to change the local party’s by-laws to remove people who didn’t attend meetings and promoted a questionnaire asking where candidates stood on each issue in the party’s platform.

That prompted an effort to recruit challengers to the precinct committeemen positions, he said.

“The recruiting that’s no big deal, that’s politics,” Hacker said. “But you don’t mislead people, implying the position is vacant.”

The letters sent out also imply the candidate already holds the seat, and in one case includes “a gross misrepresentation” of the relevant section of the Republican ballot. In another, he said the letter contained a brochure advocating for Joyce Broadsword, who is challenging incumbent Cornel Rasor for the District 1 county commission seat.

If his claims are upheld, Hacker said those involved could be stripped of party offices and they could be prohibited for holding those offices for a period of time.

Virginia K. Ellson, who filed a write-in campaign for the precinct committeeman seat, said her letter clearly stated in bold type she was running as a write-in candidate and that there was no intent to mislead voters.

Instead, her letter and a copy of a ballot were simply a way to introduce herself to voters and show them how to correctly spell her name — critical because she is running a write-in campaign.

“I could have maybe stated that one line a little better, but he’s reading an intent into the letter that isn’t there,” Ellson said.