Group wants Hise to stay out of election issues during campaign finance probe

• An activist says there are several problems with reports Hise made to the state
• Hise says 'bookkeeping corrections' in his campaign finance reports are needed
• He's been involved in changing the structure of the State Board of Elections

RALEIGH – Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, should back away from involvement in election law issues in the legislature while the State Board of Elections investigates allegations that financial reports his campaign filed with the state don't add up and have other problems, a group that seeks to limit the influence of money in politics says.

In early March, Raleigh political activist Greg Flynn filed complaints with the state board saying the reports don't contain information required by law, have numbers that do not match up and, if correct, would indicate the campaign transferred more than $10,000 to Hise's pocket.

Flynn said this week he doesn't know whether the problems are the result of sloppy bookkeeping or show Hise has used campaign funds to enrich himself.

Hise issued a two-sentence statement Thursday that reads: "We recently concluded an internal review of the campaign's finance reports and found some bookkeeping corrections that need to be made. We're working to correct those now and have sent a response to the State Board of Elections."

Hise chairs the Senate's Select Committee on Elections and has played an important role in passage of a bill to restructure state and local elections boards that is on hold because of a court battle between the Republican-controlled General Assembly and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

"Because Sen. Hise has such a strong personal stake in who sits on the State Board of Elections, he needs to step aside from decisions about its make-up and duties," said Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina.

Durham-based Democracy North Carolina pushes for steps it says improve people's ability to vote and has opposed several changes the legislature's Republican majority has made in elections law in recent years.

The bill to divide membership on state and local elections boards equally between Democrats and Republicans raises the possibility that election law violations like those Flynn's complaints allege would go unpunished because neither side would have a majority, Hall said.

The state board asked Hise March 10 to respond to Flynn's complaint. Hise told the board March 21 his campaign treasurer, his mother Shirley Hise, was unable to help sort out the issues and asked for 45 days to respond.

Patrick Gannon, spokesman for the board, said a staff review of the complaint is ongoing and staffers are in contact with Hise's campaign committee.

Flynn said he is a Democrat who looks for issues with campaign finance reports filed by candidates from both parties. He said he became interested in Hise's reports when looking into a trip several legislators including Hise took to China that was organized by an industry group.

Flynn's complaints say Hise's campaign reports:

--Say he has loaned his campaign $50,694.37 over the years but report repaying Hise $61,020.98, an excess of $10,326.61. Campaigns can reimburse candidates for loans made or expenses the candidate incurs as part of campaigning for or holding office, but it is illegal for a candidate to convert donations to personal use.

--Do not report contributions received from nine political action committees totaling $9,700. The PACs reported to the state board that they made the donations but Hise's campaign did not report getting them.

--Do not contain addresses or occupation information for any individual donors of more than $50 each during 2015 and and 2016 as required by law. That covers 131 donors, Democracy NC says.

--Show three expenditures where it is unclear how they are related to campaigning for or holding office. One is a $3,600 payment to a Spruce Pine building contractor.

--Contain mathematical inconsistencies.

Flynn said he cannot say what is behind the problems but that it is not unusual for candidates to take rules on financial reporting too lightly.

"I think over time this casualness kind of creeps in, then you say nobody's going to notice," he said. "You're in office long enough, you just start to feel no accountability about this stuff."

Hall said the state board would ideally have candidates remedy such problems before an election, but does not have enough staff to promptly audit candidates' campaign reports.

He said Hise "has the worst campaign disclosure reports of any current legislator" when it comes to disclosing information about donors.

State law in the past has reserved a majority of seats on state and local elections boards for the same political party as the governor and given him the power to appoint them.

The new law would result in an even split. Cooper argues that amounts to an unconstitutional usurpation of his powers and other critics say the new structure would hamper the boards' ability to make decisions. The bill's Republican backers say it would bring bipartisanship and more public trust to election oversight.

A three-judge panel struck down an earlier version of the law and now is considering whether a revised version is constitutional.

The similar structure of the Federal Elections Commission means "it stalemates on any major issue," Hall said. "It just comes down to a tie vote. Nothing ever moves forward."