Thread: Long Beach looking into possible voting irregularities

Long Beach looking into possible voting irregularities

By Beatriz Valenzuela, Press-Telegram
and Eric Bradley, Press-Telegram
POSTED: 04/19/14, 6:56 PM PDT |

LONG BEACH >> Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert confirmed his office is looking into possible irregularities involving the April 8 election.

“There is an inquiry based on statements given to my office from people at the City Clerk’s Office,” Haubert said Saturday.

Sources said that about 20 Cambodian voters were transported by bus to the City Clerk’s Office by Vice Mayor Robert Garcia’s campaign on or around March 21 to cast early ballots in the primary election.

Busing eligible voters to cast an early ballot or on Election Day is not illegal.

According to City Clerk Larry Herrera, some of them were not registered and a representative of the Garcia campaign asked if they could vote provisionally that day.

Herrera responded that voters can only cast a provisional ballot on Election Day, and a disagreement ensued.

No one who was unregistered was permitted to vote, Herrera said.

Provisional voting ensures that no properly registered voter is denied their right to cast a ballot if that voter’s name is not on the polling place roster due to a clerical, processing, computer or other error, according to the California secretary of state’s website. It also ensures no voter, either intentionally or unintentionally, votes twice.

Garcia campaign consultant and spokesman Eric Hacopian denied any wrongdoing, saying the campaign “energized registered voters from across Long Beach to get involved in the electoral process. We have always done so within the confines of the law. The clerk’s office has done a great job, and we look forward to the next election.”

After the April 8 primary, Garcia finished with more than 25 percent, sending him to a June 3 runoff against businessman Damon Dunn, who received 22.3 percent of the vote.

Dunn said Saturday that the allegations “appear to be very serious” but said he was not ready to make a public comment.

“Next week, on Monday, I will meet with my legal team and we will figure out how to respond,” Dunn said. “The only thing that matters is that we have a fair and honest election.”

Haubert said he spent last week gathering information on the incident and still had more to look into.

http://www.presstelegram.com/governm...irregularities

Garcia is a liberal Obama Democrat and homosexual, who has received support from the Sierra Club and other climate change/global warming propagandists.

Robert Garcia (California politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Garcia
Councilmember of the First City Council District of Long Beach, California
Incumbent
Assumed office May 5, 2009
Preceded by	Bonnie Lowenthal
Personal details
Born	December 2, 1977 (age 36) Lima, Peru
Political party	Democratic
Website	www.robertgarcia.com

Dr. Robert Garcia, Ed.D. (born December 2, 1977) is the Vice Mayor and a City Council member for the City ofLong Beach, California, and a member of the California Coastal Commission. He represents the First Council District, which includes large areas of downtown, parts of the Port of Long Beach, and some of the densest and most diverse urban areas in the nation.^[1]

When elected on April 13, 2009, to fill the seat vacated by Bonnie Lowenthal, Garcia became the youngest person, the first Latino male, and the first openly gay person of color ever elected to the Long Beach City Council.^[2]

Garcia is known for his support of using digital technology to increase government efficiency and transparency, as well as for his outspoken support of LGBT rights, his ability to forge nontraditional coalitions of supporters (for example, the Sierra Club, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce supported his campaigns), his fundraising ability, his advocacy in favor of studying Breakwater reconfiguration, and his attention to quality of life issues, such as park space, code enforcement, and arts and culture.^[3]

Garcia's 2014 Long Beach mayoral campaign is notable for a controversy regarding the placement of unwanted Garcia campaign signs onto private property, including in locations high off the ground that made them difficult to remove.^[4][5][6] The campaign is currently under investigation by Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert for possible voting irregularities related to a March 2014 incident at the City Clerk's office.^[7][8][9]

Contents

• 1 Biography
• 2 Career highlights
• 3 Controversies
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Biography[edit]

Garcia was born on December 2, 1977 in Peru. He immigrated to the United States with his mother at age 5. His mother and aunt worked in many jobs, including as housekeepers to support the family.^[10]

Garcia attended California State University, Long Beach, where he became President of the Associated Students, was an active member of the Delta Chi Fraternity and graduated with a degree in Communications. He continued his education at the University of Southern California, where he received a Master's Degree, and later became Public Information Officer at Long Beach City College. Garcia received his Ed.D. in Educational Policy from California State University, Long Beach in June 2010.^[10]He has taught courses in Communications and Public Policy at the University of Southern California, California State University, Long Beach, and Long Beach City College.

Garcia is fully bilingual, speaking, reading and writing both English and Spanish fluently.

In 2007, Garcia founded the Long Beach Post, a website devoted to local news and sports reporting. The site soon became popular with local political figures and community leaders and gave Garcia increased local prominence.^[11]

Garcia, with other area residents, founded the North Pine Neighborhood Alliance in 2008 to advocate for the needs of downtown residents and businesses. This launched his political career in earnest.^[10]

In 2009, Garcia defeated six other candidates, including a former First District Councilmember, to win the seat vacated when Bonnie Lowenthal was elected to the California State Assembly in 2008. He was reelected in April 2010 by a margin of more than 40 percentage points.^[12]

In July 2012 he was unanimously elected to a two-year term as Vice Mayor by the City Council, becoming the first Latino Vice Mayor in Long Beach and the youngest in the City's history (Press Telegram, July 18, 2012).

In January 2013, Garcia was appointed to the California Coastal Commission. In July 2013, after Bob Foster announced he would not seek re-election, Garcia entered the race for Long Beach Mayor.

Career highlights[edit]

Garcia's time in office has been marked by socially progressive and economically moderate legislation. He has authored or cosponsored more than 20 pieces of legislation, including the City's first Equal Benefits Ordinance, a ban on smoking at bus stops and at farmers' markets, a proposal to extend increased preferences to veterans in civil service hiring, and a broad-ranging arts initiative that eliminated restrictions on street performances, and reduced the business license tax for artists and other home-based businesses.^[13]

Garcia has shown support for labor unions, voting to supportProject Labor Agreements at the Long Beach Airport, Port of Long Beach and for the Gerald Desmond Bridge. He has also shown interest in government reform and fiscal accountability, and supported the [City Manager]'s efforts to consolidate departments.^[14]

Garcia arranged the leasing of City land to a local charter school for use as a working educational farm. He also arranged the painting of a huge mural by local artists on the façade of the vacant Press-Telegram lofts in downtown Long Beach.^[14]

Garcia initiated the first Latin-American Parade and Festival in Long Beach in 2009. The Festival is now an annual event.

Garcia has received some national attention for his socially progressive views and the culturally diverse communities he represents, being young, Latino and gay.

Garcia was featured in [CNN]'s 2009 special "Latino in America," and was named to the "40 under 40 list" by the national gay news magazine The Advocate.^[15]

In July 2013, Garcia announced his candidacy for Mayor of Long Beach. He received 25.4% of the vote in the April 8th, 2014 election, finishing first in a field of 10 mayoral candidates; a runoff election between Garcia and fellow candidate Damon Dunn (22.3% of the vote) is scheduled for June 3rd.^[7] Garcia's campaign is notable for a controversy involving the placement of unwanted campaign signs onto private property, including in locations high off the ground that made them difficult to remove,^[5][4][6] and is currently under investigation by Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert for possible voting irregularities in regard to a March 2014 incident at the City Clerk's office.^[7][8][9]

Controversies[edit]

Beginning in July 2010, the City of Long Beach began the process of revitalizing the Downtown Community Plan, a policy that would set the vision and planning elements for development, housing, and retail for the Downtown Area. When housing advocates from Housing Long Beach and Legal Aid addressed the lack of affordable housing in the draft Downtown Plan, The California Endowment funded $100,000 for an "economic study by David Rosen and Associates that could quantify what the incentives to developers would mean in dollars and provide models that could be considered to meet housing and resident needs or provide community benefits." ^[16] Garcia was approached by advocates to include the study and delay the vote on the plan but was reluctant to do so as it would slow the revitalization of the area. Housing advocates responded with vigils, public meetings, and marches to pressure Garcia and other Councilmembers to further delay a vote on the Downtown Plan. The Downtown Plan was ultimately adopted by a 7-2 vote with Garcia voting in favor. ^[17]

Another controversy arose in late March and early April of 2014 during Garcia's Long Beach mayoral campaign. At that time, numerous campaign signs promoting Garcia for mayor were placed on private commercial properties throughout Long Beach, in many cases attached high up on light poles and similar structures, which made the signs difficult to remove.^[4][5][6] The signs-- funded by an independent expenditure committee entitled "Friends of Long Beach, A Committee Supporting Vice Mayor Robert Garcia for Mayor 2014"^[5]-- were apparently placed without property owners' knowledge or consent, and made use of a legal loophole: while campaign signs placed on public property in Long Beach are in violation of city ordinance and subject to removal by the city, there is little the city can do when such signs are placed on private property, and therefore property owners wishing to remove the Garcia campaign signs had to do so at their own expense.^[4][5][6] Garcia campaign manager Devin Cotter claimed that the campaign is opposed to placing signs on private property without permission, and that the signs were posted by an outside group and "sometimes there can be misunderstandings as to where they can go".^[4] When asked whether he was denouncing this outside group for illegal activities, he responded that he was "not denouncing anyone".^[4]

In mid-April 2014, Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert opened an inquiry into irregularities in the April 8th, 2014 Long Beach election, in regard to Garcia's mayoral campaign.^[7][8][9] The incident under investigation occurred on or around March 21st, 2014, at which time Garcia's campaign hired a bus to transport approximately 20 Cambodian would-be voters to the City Clerk's office for early voting. Many of them were not included on the registered voter rolls, and when the Garcia representative accompanying them requested that they be given provisional ballots so that they could vote that day, the City Clerk declined the request as provisional voting is only allowed on Election Day.^[7][8][9] An argument followed and was captured on security camera. The incident was described as "chaotic".^[7] Garcia commented that he was proud to get Cambodians out to vote and "happy to help them get to the polls",^[7] and that "it happens in every campaign, and it's 100 percent legal".<sup>[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...ia_politician)</sup>

http://www.alipac.us/f19/voter-fraud...30/index6.html