Complaint against postcards targeting Lora Thomas dismissed

Price does not meet threshold

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

An alleged campaign nance complaint led by Douglas County Commissioner Lora omas for political postcards claiming she was wasting taxpayer time and money has been dismissed by the Colorado Secretary of State’s O ce.

Earlier in January, omas led a complaint against Vistaprint, the company that printed the postcards, because there was no indication who sent them and no paid-for-by disclaimer, which is required by law on certain political communications.

e Secretary of State’s O ce ruled the postcards did not violate campaign nance laws because there’s no evidence Vistaprint paid for the postcards and the postcards were mailed after the election. e ruling also found no evidence that the mailers cost more than $1,000, which is the threshold for requiring a paid-for-by disclaimer on election materials.

In its response to the complaint, Vistaprint’s attorney said 153 postcards were ordered for a total of $248, but didn’t provide information about who the customer was.

omas told Colorado Community Media that additional postcards have come out since her complaint

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“ ey won’t put their name on it because they are ashamed of what they are doing,” omas said. “ ey don’t upset me.” ough one of the postcards omas identi ed in her complaint encouraged voters to support state Sen. Kevin Van Winkle to replace her, omas said she con rmed with Van Winkle that he is not paying for the mailers. omas said she wouldn’t accuse anyone of sending the postcards without evidence. be published within 12 days of an election.

“ e fact that these people are so ashamed of this that they’re going to great lengths to hide their identity speaks volumes of who they are,” she said.

A recent postcard criticized omas’ vote against funding a school security pilot program at STEM School Highlands Ranch. omas voted against funding the program because of concerns about the technology’s e ectiveness. e postcards that omas originally led the complaint about told voters “You’re being scrooged by Lora omas,” claiming she is working with Democrat state Rep. Bob Marshall to expand the Board of County Commissioners from three people to ve people. omas said she wouldn’t let the postcards get in the way of her job, but would continue to push back against the misinformation they contain.

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