The Alaska Public Offices Commission has fined Stand for Alaska – Vote No on One a reduced fine of $1,925 for failure to comply with naming requirements and violation of two state statutes.
The maximum penalty against the group, which is backed by several entities in Alaska’s oil and gas and mining industries, could have been $7,700, but the APOC recommended reducing that amount because the group is an inexperienced filer.
The matter was considered by the commission at a special meeting on Aug. 29 and a final decision was issued on Sept. 7.
The commission said that although the group’s name did not indicate its opposition to the Stand for Salmon initiative, which advocates for updating state statutes to better protect wild salmon habitat, that the group’s publicly available APOC filings and other public communications did indicate that such opposition was the group’s purpose.
While the “paid for by” identifiers on some of the group’s campaign videos did not use the group’s new name, the new name (and the group’s opposition to the initiative) were clear on the group’s web, YouTube and Facebook pages, which are locations through which the public would generally access the videos,” the APOC said.
