Bullock dinged for campaign violation

HELENA (AP) — The Office of Commissioner of Political Practices is dinging Gov. Steve Bullock for a bookkeeping error that led to excess campaign donations.

A Helena attorney who was appointed deputy for the cases says that Bullock's 2012 campaign took three contributions from three political action committees that exceeded the legal limits.

Jay Dufrechou says the mistake is understandable given the volume of donations that go to a campaign for governor, and he found no evidence of willful attempt to receive excess contributions.

But he said technical compliance is required off all campaigns, and is particularly important for high profile statewide campaigns.

The governor's former campaign manager says the "minor" errors came amid four years of fundraising and 10,000 contributions.

A penalty will be assessed or negotiated later.