Eric Fey, the Director of Elections for the Saint Louis County Election Board confirmed today that the Election Board has received notice from the Missouri Department of Revenue that Adrian Shropshire, mayoral candidate for the city of Ferguson, failed to meet the requirements of RSMo 115.306 regarding payment of taxes.
Fey explained, “As such Adrian Shropshire has been disqualified. It is too late to remove Adrian Shropshire’s name from the ballot, but any votes cast for this candidate will not be tabulated. Notices informing the voters of this will be posted in all polling places.”
Fey also provided a copy of the letter the Board received from the General Counsel’s Office of the Missouri Department of Revenue. According to the letter, a complaint had been received in January that Shropshire was not in compliance with the state code requiring that candidates filing to run for office cannot be “delinquent in the payment of any state income taxes, personal property taxes, municipal taxes, real property taxes on the place of residence, as stated on the declaration of candidacy, or if the person is a past or present corporate officer of any fee office that owes any taxes to the state.”
According to the letter, Shropshire was given 30 days to resolve his delinquency. A follow-up investigation by the Department of Revenue found that it had not been resolved and that Shropshire was subject to sanctions, including disqualification from the current election, or being banned from refiling for an entire election cycle.