Circuit Court Judge Jeff Ashton paid qualifying fee 18 days after deadline  

Updated Sept. 19 8:27 p.m. to reflect additional response from attorney Glenn Burhans.

Updated Sept. 18 4:44 p.m. to reflect the response from the Florida Department of State.

[Oct 1, Ed. Note: According to Ryan C. Ash, Deputy Director of the Office of External Affairs of Florida's Department of State, Circuit Judge Jeff Ashton was notified by the Division of Elections that his qualifying check had insufficient funds on May 13. A cashier's check to cover his qualifying fee was received by the Division of Elections on May 14. In nonpartisan races, like a circuit court race, candidates have 48 hours to replace a returned check with a cashier's check — even after the qualifying deadline. Judge Ashton made the 48-hour deadline, though it is still unclear if campaign funds were used for the cashiers check.]

Circuit Court Judge Jeff Ashton, who is running for re-election, filed his candidate qualifying fee with the Division of Elections in Tallahassee 18 days past the qualifying deadline, campaign documents show. 

The Ninth Judicial Circuit qualifying period for the 2024 elections was April 22-26. The Division of Elections site states they began accepting qualifying documents April 8. Missing the qualifying deadline, according to Florida statute, would disqualify a candidate from an election. 

Ashton, who is his own campaign treasurer, is currently in a Nov. 5 runoff against attorney Alicia Peyton to hold his seat on the bench. He was elected in 2018 after more than 30 years in the state attorney’s office and one term (2012-2016) as state attorney. He was defeated by Democrat Aramis Ayala after it was revealed he'd visited the meetup site for extramarital affairs, Ashley Madison, though he denied ever meeting anyone. Ashton currently serves in Group 15 in the Domestic Violence division. 

A tale of two checks 

The law for candidate qualifying is clear, according to attorney Glenn Burhans, an election law specialist in the Tallahassee office of the law firm Stearns Weaver Miller.  

“In my experience the requirements of the qualifying statute must be strictly satisfied,” he told VoxPopuli via email. “I read the statute to require payment of the qualifying fee with funds from the campaign account during the qualifying period.” 

In Ashton’s case, this was Check #89, dated April 25, 2024, for $7,646.52 from the Ashton for Circuit Judge account at Fairwinds Credit Union made out to the Florida Division of Elections. “2024 Qualifying Fee” is listed in the memo line. It’s stamped “Hand delivered” and “Received 2024 APR 25 PM 2:37 Division of Elections Tallahassee, FL.”  Across the front, multiple times, is the word "VOID."

Ashton’s campaign finance report lists a candidate qualifying fee expenditure of $7,646.52 on April 19, 2024. On April 23, there’s a deposit of $7,845. 

Ryan C. Ash, Deputy Director of the Office of External Affairs of Florida's Department of State, confirmed in an email that the campaign check was returned for insufficient funds.

Nearly three weeks later — 18 days after the last day of the qualifying period — there is a cashier’s check, for the same amount, $7,646.52, dated May 13, 2024, purchased from Fairwinds Credit Union, also made out to the Florida Division of Elections. Its memo line also states “2024 Qualifying Fee.” It is stamped “Received 2024 May 14 AM 10:45 Division of Elections Tallahassee, FL.”  

Florida Statute 99.061(7)(a)1 allows for qualifying-fee checks that are “returned by the bank for any reason” to be replaced with a cashier’s check, provided the check is purchased with campaign funds and submitted within the qualifying period. 

"If an expenditure was made from the campaign account, then it should be reflected in the expenditure report corresponding to the date on which the expenditure was made,” Burhans said by email. 

As of Sept. 17, there were no corresponding records in Ashton’s campaign reports to indicate a cashier’s check was purchased. 

Ashton did not respond to a phone message left by VoxPopuli, nor did he respond to questions sent to the email listed on his candidate forms.

48 hours 

The Division of Elections filing officer is supposed to “immediately notify” a candidate if a check has been returned by the bank, according to Florida election law. 

VoxPopuli reached out to the Division of Elections to ask when Ashton was notified that his April 25 check was returned so that he could replace it with the cashier’s check.

"In accordance with section 105.031(5)(a)1, the Division notified him, and [he] was allowed to cure the deficiency by cashier’s check, 'the end of qualifying notwithstanding,'" Ash said in his email.

That statute provides 48 hours from the time of notification (excluding weekends and holidays) for a returned check to be replaced — even after the qualifying period has ended. Failure to pay the qualifying fee within the grace period is grounds for disqualification.

Ash did not provide VoxPopuli with the date that the Division notified Ashton that his campaign check had been returned.

“While a candidate for non-partisan office can cure the filing fee defect within 48 hours of being notified by the filing officer, the timeline here appears to raise questions," Burhans said in a follow-up email. "For instance, when was the candidate notified of the defect? Was the defect cured within 48 hours? The absence of an expenditure for the cashier’s check in the reporting nearly four months after the fact is curious, however, that may be merely a reporting error and not necessarily indicative of a qualifying defect.”

What happens now?

Currently, there is no challenge to Ashton's candidacy. Peyton, Ashton's opponent, was unavailable to comment on whether one might be forthcoming.

However, just last month there was a court case that scrambled the Orange County Supervisor of Elections race when one candidate was disqualified from the Nov. 5 election for improperly paying her qualifying fee. She paid the fee from a personal bank account rather than her campaign account. Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Lisa Munyon noted that while the outcome was "harsh," the election law was "clear."

At the time, Orange County Supervisor of Elections Glen Gilzean told News 6, “It is incumbent upon candidates to know and follow the rules.”