Mid-Missourians for Bernie delves into local politics with campaign finance hiccup

Mid-Missourians for Bernie plans to branch out and become a force in local politics, with being “financial watchdogs” as one of their goals. But the group might want to check its own financials first.

Mid-Missourians for Bernie worked diligently the past several months to support former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in his bid for the White House by buying, printing and disseminating fliers, campaign signs and other materials throughout the area. The group’s efforts until recently were backed by a political action committee called “People Over Profit,” which was organized through the Federal Election Commission as a nonqualified, nonparty committee.

The committee has yet to file any of its reports with the FEC to document the group’s expenditures, in-kind contributions or other financial activity. When such a committee’s contributions or expenditures exceed $1,000 per year, it is required by federal law to periodically report all financial activity, FEC Public Affairs Specialist Julia Queen said in a July interview.

A co-founder of Mid-Missourians for Bernie and treasurer of the PAC backing the group is Persephone Dakopolos, who also was recently appointed as a member of the Democratic National Committee. Dakopolos received three written notices from the FEC dated Feb. 19, May 3 and Aug. 2 notifying her of the PAC’s noncompliance with disclosing quarterly and year-end reports.

Read more: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/mid-missourians-for-bernie-delves-into-local-politics-with-campaign/article_063623df-4c06-5c48-9242-efaa31771eb3.html