Allegations leveled by District 1 Supervisor Brad Aborn against his opponent, Lee Stetson, prompted Mariposa County District Attorney Bob Brown to mail a letter to all local candidates last week, warning them of possible misdemeanor violations of California Elections Code.

Brown’s letter sites Section 18350 of the state’s election code, which states, in part, “Every person is guilty of a misdemeanor who, with intent to mislead voters---(a) Assume, pretend, or imply by his or her statements or conduct, that he or she is the incumbent of a public office when that is not the case.”

Aborn filed a complaint with the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office last month claiming that Stetson was misleading voters because his signs said, “Lee Stetson, Supervisor, District 1.” Aborn alleged that Stetson’s signs were a violation of that code section because the signs didn’t contain the words “elect,” “vote for,” or “for.”

The letter from the DA states, “I believe that a sign that has only the name of the candidate and the title of the office sought can be construed to imply that the named candidate is currently the incumbent; however, I don’t believe that there is sufficient evidence to support a criminal charge based on the language of the signs alone.”

Stetson assured local law enforcement during the initial investigations that his signs were not an attempt to mislead the voters. They were simply left over from a previous campaign. He also offered to alter his signs if authorities believed it was necessary.

Brown’s letter continues, “I am therefore urging all candidates who are not currently the incumbent for the offices they seek, to review the language of your signs to ensure that they are not subject to misinterpretation. If your signs could be interpreted to imply that you are the incumbent, I’m requesting that you either remove the signs or modify them by adding a word or words to your signs, such as ‘for,’ ‘vote for,’ ‘elect,’ a symbol representing these words, or words that clearly indicate you are not the incumbent. Please look beyond your campaign signs and make sure that none of your ads, or any of your campaign materials could be viewed as implying that you are the incumbent.”

The DA told the GAZETTE Tuesday that, “Most of the signs I have observed are good campaign signs that cannot be misinterpreted.”

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