CA: U.S. panel urged to open audit of Shelley (ShmelleyGate - HAVA Act violations)

SFGate.com ^ | 1/4/05 | Zachary Coile - SF Chronicle

[NormsRevenge]

Washington -- The chief author of the law that sent nearly $4 billion to states for nonpartisan voter education funds called Monday for a federal inquiry into how Secretary of State Kevin Shelley spent California's share of the money.

Rep. Bob Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, urged the Election Assistance Commission to conduct a special audit to determine whether Shelley violated federal rules by spending some of the state's voting funds on contracts with Democratic operatives who attended fund-raisers and other partisan events. The federal funds were meant to be used to replace outdated voting machines and for other nonpartisan programs.

"I think it would be good for them to take a look at it," said Ney, R- Ohio, who sponsored the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

His comments came at the swearing-in ceremony for the new chair of the Election Assistance Commission, Gracia Hillman. Hillman told reporters after the event that her agency --snip-- will conduct either a full audit of Shelley's handling of the voting funds or a less intensive review of spending by the secretary of state.

Shelley, who is California's top election official, has been under scrutiny since The Chronicle and other newspapers reported that Shelley was spending federal voting funds to hire consultants and "voter outreach workers" -- mostly Democratic operatives who had ties to Shelley and to his re- election campaign.

A state auditor general released a scathing report Dec. 16 that found that Shelley's office violated state procurement rules in its handling of the voting funds, skirting Legislature-ordered guidelines on competitive bidding in the hiring of the voter outreach contractors.

Shelley's office could not produce proof that the consultants -- whose 46 contracts totaled $1.5 million -- did the work they were hired to do, the audit found.