WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The state Board of Elections is asking Gov. Gina Raimondo to fund an additional staff member to audit campaign accounts following former House speaker Gordon Fox’s guilty plea to bribery and other charges.
The Providence Journal reports that board Vice Chairman William West said, “We’ve had a few problems here recently.”
Executive Director Robert Kando says the Board of Elections has nine employees. The board is authorized to have 11 employees and the request Thursday would bring the total full-time staff to 12. Four employees would be assigned to campaign finance.
A spokeswoman for Raimondo was non-committal.
Elections officials say they need more workers to maintain past levels of financial monitoring. But calls for closer scrutiny followed Fox’s admission he used his campaign account as a personal fund.
