Platte County votes to keep candidates on ballot after mix-up. Some quit anyway
Platte County commissioners reaffirmed several candidates’ spots on this fall’s ballot after some say a “misleading,” county-issued slip of paper led them to incorrectly file their financial statements needed to run for office.
Meanwhile, other candidates impacted by the “mix-up” took matters into their own hands Monday morning, withdrawing from the election before officials decided.
Dozens of people packed into a meeting room Monday morning as the Platte County Commission voted against disqualifying seven candidates from the Aug. 4 election for failing to file personal financial disclosure statements in the ways county law requires.
Uncertainty regarding the candidates’ eligibility for election sparked last week after the commission learned that some candidates had only filed their financial statements with the state, and not with the county, by the April 21 deadline.
In Platte County, countywide candidates must file financial statements with both the Missouri Ethics Commission and the county clerk in compliance with a county ordinance first passed nearly 30 years ago. In many other Missouri counties, candidates only need to file with the state.
According to the ordinance, if candidates do not file to both entities by the deadline, the county commission should inform the Platte County Board of Elections to disqualify the candidates and remove their names from the ballot.
However, several candidates said a county-issued notice caused the seven-person mistake.
The Platte County Board of Elections gave candidates a yellow slip of paper outlining filing requirements. But the information included on the sheet was incorrect and contradicted county election law.
The paper told candidates to only file online with the MEC and not with any other entity, instead of noting the county’s dual filing requirement.
“The incorrect information was due to a misunderstanding on our part about filing procedure with the county clerk and the intent to streamline the process for candidates,” director of elections Chris Hershey said in an email to The Star last week.
Staying on the ballot
Before the vote, four candidates announced they had preemptively withdrawn from the election in response to the debacle, including Robinson along with treasurer Chris Kendall; Dale Brouk, candidate for presiding commissioner; and Holly Cayer, who was running for county collector.
“Due to the nature of this election, the tactics that have been used and the fact that your vote today will determine four offices without the vote of the people, I have decided to take my fate into my own hands,” Cayer said.
After hearing from multiple concerned residents and the candidates themselves during the commission meeting Monday, the three-member county board ultimately voted 2-1 against the measures that proposed removing candidates from the ballot.
Commissioners Allyson Berberich and Joe Vanover both voted against the seven individual orders, claiming the misinformation regarding financial filing provided to candidates led to the violations.
“The sheet that they received from the election board told them one thing, and they did that one thing,” Vanover said. “So I think that they should be allowed to remain candidates for office.”
Berberich agreed, stating that the yellow slip of paper given to candidates each election cycle had previously helped her understand the rules when she first ran for office. In the past, the yellow notices had included the correct filing information.
“It’s super disappointing that the Board of Elections gave the wrong information and distributed it to so many,” Berberich said. “It’s unfortunate.”
However, Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker said the duty of the commission is to follow the law and not consider outside factors that are beyond the control of the commission, like yellow slips of paper with misleading information.
Since the ordinance, which was reapproved last summer, says that a candidate should be disqualified if they don’t file financial documents with both entities, the seven candidates should be removed from the ballot, Fricker said.
Voting against removing the candidates would be an “unlawful act,” he added.
“There is nothing in this ordinance that allows for extraneous factors, things that will always be outside the commission’s control,” Fricker said. “The only thing that we can rely on here as commissioners is the order that we passed and things that we control…All we control is whether or not we’re going to follow through on the ordinance that we passed.”
Berberich suggested the commission should discuss the nature of the dual filing ordinance in the near future to update its language or do away with the requirement entirely.
Rare occurrence, spotty enforcement
A candidate hasn’t been disqualified from an election in Platte County over their financial filings since 2016, according to Hershey.
However, that doesn’t mean candidates have always been perfectly compliant, at least according to Kevin Robinson, who was running for reelection for county auditor. Robinson conducted a Missouri Sunshine Law request last week for financial filing records for current elected officials in the county between 2021 and 2025, finding that several people, including Fricker, had not consistently been compliant with the dual filing law.
Robinson said the documents show Fricker only filed with the state in 2023.
“This raises several questions regarding consistency and due process,” he said. “Given the seriousness of enforcing candidate disqualifications, it is critical that the county ensure consistency, lawfulness and procedural sound application of this ordinance.”
Robinson plans to submit his findings for review with the state attorney general’s office, he said.
The three other impacted candidates will remain on the August ballot, including Mary McKenna, a Democrat running for presiding commissioner; Gena Ross, a Republican running for presiding commissioner; and Russ Wojtkiewicz, a Republican vying for county clerk.
Kendall, who was appointed county treasurer around a year ago, felt a sense of relief after the vote Monday for his fellow candidates, despite already removing himself from the election.
“I feel really good,” he told The Star after the meeting. “This has absorbed so much of my time for the last month. I’m just tired. So I’m good with my decision, and we’ll see what happens.”
