As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday, many of the financial reports candidates file to show the public how much money they raise and spend may not be worth the paper they're printed on. The newspaper reviewed hundreds of reports filed by a dozen state and local officials and found numerous mistakes and discrepancies.
But reports for two public officials the newspaper examined were spotless: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and DeKalb interim CEO Lee May. In an interview last week, May said he personally reviews every report to make sure the numbers add up.
“It’s a complex process. You’re dealing with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of transactions, donations coming in and expenses going out,” May said. “You fill these forms out. It takes a lot of time because you want to be accurate. You worry about the accuracy of them at the end of the day. You double, triple, quadruple-check your numbers.”
Still, May cautioned against assuming the worst about public officials with shoddy campaign paperwork. He said instructions on how to fill it out has been lacking. Some mistakes may be simple scrivener’s errors, while others may indicate a more fundamental problem with disclosures, he said.
“Unfortunately, as elected officials, we don’t really get the benefit of the doubt anymore,” May said. “We’ve got to get things right. When we don’t, we have to be open about it.”
You can learn more about the AJC's investigation into sloppy campaign finance paperwork here.
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