During the public comment portion of the meeting, a handful of speakers expressed concern about Stronger Together allegedly extending beyond activities legally allowed for such a group, called a PIC, such as endorsing candidates.

One City Council member, Terry Peterson, also brought up the concerns as the body discussed verifying the election results from the municipal primary earlier this month.

Peterson noted that there had been a complaint against the PIC received by the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office and the Utah Attorney General’s Office and he had concerns verifying results if candidates were involved with the committee.

“I’m concerned about me signing my name to a document when I don’t know the results of that complaint,” he said. “My understanding is it is an ongoing complaint.”

According to a document posted in a Stronger Together Facebook group, the Utah County Clerk’s Office submitted a complaint in July about the PIC, expressing concern that the committee was violating state law. The complaint claims the group promoted certain City Council candidates and the Stronger Orem political action committee, or PAC.

The Stronger Orem PAC, separate from Stronger Together, endorsed Jeff Lamson, Jenn Gale and Chris Killpack, who finished as the top three candidates in the primary election. According to the PAC’s statement of organization, Cissy Rasmussen and Aerwyn Whitlock, who were primary officers of Stronger Together, sit on the board of Stronger Orem.

The clerk’s office couldn’t be reached Wednesday to verify the document, but Rasmussen confirmed to the Daily Herald that the complaint came from the county office.

During the meeting, the city’s legal counsel assured Peterson and the rest of the council that their duty in signing the election results had nothing to do with verifying the legitimacy of any candidates but was only to approve the count of the votes.

“It’s your duty as a canvasser to take the record provided by your election officer and determine who has the highest votes,” responded Jesse Riddle during Tuesday’s meeting. “It’s not your duty to question how those votes were obtained. ”

The council unanimously voted to certify the results, with Peterson reiterating his concern.

On Aug. 16, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office sent a notice of complaint addressed to Whitlock notifying her that the office had received a complaint against the committee. The letter was posted in a Facebook comment section by Rasmussen.

Ryan Cowley, director of elections in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, said in a statement to the Daily Herald, “We have received several complaints about the Stronger Together PIC and are reviewing them.”

The notice addressed two allegations — that a non-officer of Stronger Together had potentially acted as an official officer and that the committee was no longer acting as a political issues committee by advocating for candidates.

The notice recommended that the committee should be dissolved if the group believed it no longer fit the definition of a PIC. It also recommended that the statement of organization be updated if any new officers had joined.

“Stronger Together was formed to oppose (Proposition) 2,” Rasmussen said, referencing last year’s effort to split Orem schools from the Alpine School District. “Now that it has been defeated, we are in the process of dissolving the official PIC. Throughout the Prop 2 process, we built a robust online community that cares deeply about issues in Orem, and that will continue.”

In a Facebook post by Rasmussen on the Stronger Together Facebook group, she said the committee did not contribute any money to candidates and had not allowed a non-officer to exercise control over official decisions. She added the issue was resolved.

Under the Utah State Code, a political issues committee’s purpose is to advocate for or against a ballot initiative. Advocating for specific candidates is allowed for a political action committee but not a political issues committee, according to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office notice.