State Ethics Commission: Galvin Benefited Politically From Signs, Voting Booklet

The State Ethics Commission has found Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin benefited politically from early voting signs and voter information booklets created by this office.

The commission said in a letter Friday the 2018 signs and booklets prominently featured Galvin's name, providing him with free publicity.

The commission found the benefits to Galvin from the inclusion of his name on the signs and the free publicity in the information booklet were unwarranted and there was reasonable cause to believe Galvin violated conflict of interest laws.

Galvin said the commission relied on what he called a "somewhat twisted interpretation of the law" to reach its conclusion. He said he wasn't involved in the decision to use information including his name.

He was not fined.

Galvin was easily reelected.