Tweet
DA TO EXAMINE ABSENTEE BALLOTS
By Fred Ortega, News-Press and Leader
Dan Watson / News-Press
Burbank Leader, CA
May 25 2006
Signatures on forms allegedly collected by Assembly candidate's
campaign do not match the voters' signatures, county officials say.
Meri Keshishian holds up an absentee ballot she said she did not
request at the Quintero campaign news conference.
Consequences of drinking
Committee reveals recommendations
DA to examine absentee ballots
GLENDALE -- The Los Angeles District Attorney's office will look into
allegations that the campaign for 43rd Assembly District candidate
Paul Krekorian submitted absentee ballot requests with fraudulent
signatures, a county official said Tuesday.
The campaign of Glendale Councilman Frank Quintero, who is also
vying for the Democratic nomination to the 43rd District seat,
accused Krekorian's campaign of engaging in voter fraud at a press
conference Tuesday.
"This is about signature forgeries on absentee ballot applications,"
said Stephen Kaufman, an attorney for Quintero's campaign.
Several voters contacted Quintero's campaign offices last week about
letters they had received from the registrar's office, in which they
were asked to confirm absentee ballot applications they had never
requested, Kaufman said. All of the applications in question were
submitted by the Committee to Elect Paul Krekorian, he added.
The allegations that his campaign would tolerate any unethical behavior
are "despicable and disgusting," said Krekorian in a statement to
the media, adding that Tuesday's press conference was an attempt by
Quintero to save his failing campaign.
"I call upon the county registrar to investigate these allegations
thoroughly, carefully and immediately," Krekorian said. "There is
simply no basis whatsoever for Frank Quintero's false implication
that my campaign has done anything inappropriate."
Quintero chose not to comment on the matter, leaving it to his attorney
and campaign to handle.
Quintero's staff produced two voters Tuesday who received letters
from the registrar's office asking if they had requested absentee
ballots. In both cases, the signatures on the absenteeballot requests,
which stated they were provided by the Committee to Elect Paul
Krekorian, did not match those of the voters.
"I don't speak English and I didn't know what the letter was about
but when I saw the signature next to my name, I knew it wasn't mine,"
Boghos Nouradian said through a translator. "I sign my name in Arabic,
and this signature was in English."
Another Glendale voter, Mari Keshishian, said she considered herself
a victim of voter fraud.
"I was shocked and angered because for this election I have not
requested an absentee ballot; someone has signed my name on a ballot
application, and it was not me," said Keshishian, who has volunteered
as a poll worker for the past two years. "This is just wrong."
At the very least, the alleged ballot tampering could result in voter
disenfranchisement, Kaufman said.
"If the voter arrives at the polls and are unaware that there was
already a request for an absentee ballot, they may not be able to vote,
unless they get a poll worker who knows what they are doing and they
get a provisional ballot," Kaufman said, adding that county officials
told him they sent out 1,000 letters regarding questionable absentee
ballot applications that had all come from the same bundle from the
Krekorian campaign.
Judy Whitehurst, a senior deputy county counsel representing the L.A.
County Registrar' office, would not confirm the number of questionable
applications examined. But she did say that there were "some
questionable absentee ballot applications" among the forms submitted
by the Krekorian campaign.
Whitehurst added that the matter had been referred to the district
attorney and that the investigation would proceed from there.
District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said her office had yet to
receive any documents from the registrar, but that she was expecting
something to be sent soon.
"They did say they would be sending something over," said Gibbons.
"When they send stuff like that, we review it first and then make a
decision on whether a criminal investigation will be opened, or if
charges will be filed if what is sent is sufficient."
Neither Gibbons nor Whitehurst would comment further on the nature
of the irregularities.
Some think there could be a more sinister reason behind the alleged
ballot tampering than keeping voters from the polls on June 6, said
Harry Sarafian of the Armenian Council of America.
"Many Armenians who have received these ballots have just become
citizens and these people are not too keen on election laws," Sarafian
said. "I think some people have been trying to take advantage of
this by sending them the absentee ballots when they didn't request
them and then offering them to help fill them out, to the benefit of
one candidate."
But Zanku Armenian, spokesman for the Armenian National Committee,
which supports Krekorian, cautioned that no illegal ballot tampering
has been proven, and accused Quintero of using the situation to
fracture the Armenian community, which he said is squarely behind
Krekorian.
"This does fit the Quintero campaign's tactic to divide the community,
and this is not the kind of representative we want in our assembly
seat," he said.
By Fred Ortega, News-Press and Leader
Dan Watson / News-Press
Burbank Leader, CA
May 25 2006
Signatures on forms allegedly collected by Assembly candidate's
campaign do not match the voters' signatures, county officials say.
Meri Keshishian holds up an absentee ballot she said she did not
request at the Quintero campaign news conference.
Consequences of drinking
Committee reveals recommendations
DA to examine absentee ballots
GLENDALE -- The Los Angeles District Attorney's office will look into
allegations that the campaign for 43rd Assembly District candidate
Paul Krekorian submitted absentee ballot requests with fraudulent
signatures, a county official said Tuesday.
The campaign of Glendale Councilman Frank Quintero, who is also
vying for the Democratic nomination to the 43rd District seat,
accused Krekorian's campaign of engaging in voter fraud at a press
conference Tuesday.
"This is about signature forgeries on absentee ballot applications,"
said Stephen Kaufman, an attorney for Quintero's campaign.
Several voters contacted Quintero's campaign offices last week about
letters they had received from the registrar's office, in which they
were asked to confirm absentee ballot applications they had never
requested, Kaufman said. All of the applications in question were
submitted by the Committee to Elect Paul Krekorian, he added.
The allegations that his campaign would tolerate any unethical behavior
are "despicable and disgusting," said Krekorian in a statement to
the media, adding that Tuesday's press conference was an attempt by
Quintero to save his failing campaign.
"I call upon the county registrar to investigate these allegations
thoroughly, carefully and immediately," Krekorian said. "There is
simply no basis whatsoever for Frank Quintero's false implication
that my campaign has done anything inappropriate."
Quintero chose not to comment on the matter, leaving it to his attorney
and campaign to handle.
Quintero's staff produced two voters Tuesday who received letters
from the registrar's office asking if they had requested absentee
ballots. In both cases, the signatures on the absenteeballot requests,
which stated they were provided by the Committee to Elect Paul
Krekorian, did not match those of the voters.
"I don't speak English and I didn't know what the letter was about
but when I saw the signature next to my name, I knew it wasn't mine,"
Boghos Nouradian said through a translator. "I sign my name in Arabic,
and this signature was in English."
Another Glendale voter, Mari Keshishian, said she considered herself
a victim of voter fraud.
"I was shocked and angered because for this election I have not
requested an absentee ballot; someone has signed my name on a ballot
application, and it was not me," said Keshishian, who has volunteered
as a poll worker for the past two years. "This is just wrong."
At the very least, the alleged ballot tampering could result in voter
disenfranchisement, Kaufman said.
"If the voter arrives at the polls and are unaware that there was
already a request for an absentee ballot, they may not be able to vote,
unless they get a poll worker who knows what they are doing and they
get a provisional ballot," Kaufman said, adding that county officials
told him they sent out 1,000 letters regarding questionable absentee
ballot applications that had all come from the same bundle from the
Krekorian campaign.
Judy Whitehurst, a senior deputy county counsel representing the L.A.
County Registrar' office, would not confirm the number of questionable
applications examined. But she did say that there were "some
questionable absentee ballot applications" among the forms submitted
by the Krekorian campaign.
Whitehurst added that the matter had been referred to the district
attorney and that the investigation would proceed from there.
District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said her office had yet to
receive any documents from the registrar, but that she was expecting
something to be sent soon.
"They did say they would be sending something over," said Gibbons.
"When they send stuff like that, we review it first and then make a
decision on whether a criminal investigation will be opened, or if
charges will be filed if what is sent is sufficient."
Neither Gibbons nor Whitehurst would comment further on the nature
of the irregularities.
Some think there could be a more sinister reason behind the alleged
ballot tampering than keeping voters from the polls on June 6, said
Harry Sarafian of the Armenian Council of America.
"Many Armenians who have received these ballots have just become
citizens and these people are not too keen on election laws," Sarafian
said. "I think some people have been trying to take advantage of
this by sending them the absentee ballots when they didn't request
them and then offering them to help fill them out, to the benefit of
one candidate."
But Zanku Armenian, spokesman for the Armenian National Committee,
which supports Krekorian, cautioned that no illegal ballot tampering
has been proven, and accused Quintero of using the situation to
fracture the Armenian community, which he said is squarely behind
Krekorian.
"This does fit the Quintero campaign's tactic to divide the community,
and this is not the kind of representative we want in our assembly
seat," he said.