Judge throws out election results in Los Angeles suburb (Compton), declares incumbent the mayor

AP | 2/8/02 | Daisy Nguyen

[Native American Female Vet]

Judge throws out election results in Los Angeles suburb, declares incumbent the mayor

By Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press, 2/8/2002 16:21

LOS ANGELES (AP) A judge threw out the results of last summer's Compton mayoral election Friday and declared incumbent Omar Bradley the winner.

Superior Court Judge Judith Chirlin upheld allegations of fraud and other problems made in a lawsuit filed by Bradley, who lost to Eric Perrodin by 261 votes last June.

Chirlin determined last month that precinct workers had mishandled ballots. At the time, however, she said the problems did not affect the outcome of the election in the blighted suburb southeast of Los Angeles.

During a 10-week trial that included 85 witnesses and more than 100 exhibits, attorneys contended that more than 140 illegal votes were cast, some by undocumented workers, and that voters were misled and sometimes harassed.

Perrodin's attorney argued that there was not enough misconduct to conclude that the election's results should be overturned.

The judge had previously ruled that City Clerk Charles Davis failed to supervise the election properly. Among the problems were missing tallies of voters, missing precinct worker signatures and a failure to find which voters received absentee ballots.

Last November, Davis brought 27 ballot boxes to court, saying he had simply overlooked them earlier. More than 10,000 votes were cast in the city of 93,000.

Compton has had its share of controversy, having seen its police department disbanded in favor of sheriff's patrols and its schools taken over by the state in recent years. It has often been symbolized by gang warfare and drive-by shootings.

On the Net:

City: http://www.gatewaycog.org/compton

[One More Time]

Why don't we just forgo elections and let Judges pick our Elected Reps?

[Frohickey]

How about having another election? Or better yet, have the city council, if Compton has one, appoint a temporary mayor until the next election.

[chainsaw]

Why don't we just forgo elections and let Judges pick our Elected Reps?

Welcome to the new world order. That might just be what happens in the future if we don't stand up and be counted now.

[doctor noe]

Compton is notorious for being an extremely corrupt and politically sleazy town. Up until recently, their incredibly screwed-up school district was under state control. Former Congressman Walter Tucker (from Compton) is now serving time in the slammer on corruption charges...his old man was probably even more corrupt.

[Kaslin]

Omar Bradley as in General Omar Bradley?

[Timesink]

Do I even have to ask why this article fails to mention the political party affiliations of any of the participants?

[sheik yerbouty]

Resemblance in name only.

[gcruse]

Do I even have to ask why this article fails to mention
the political party affiliations of any of the participants?

"blighted suburb" was all the info I needed.

[Brian Allen]

Compton: -- Yet another ["Black-Avenger"-defined] American "Darktown."

[Chad Fairbanks]

If anyone can clean up Compton, it's Omar Bradley... I mean, in my personal opinion he played a large part in Patton's success, so imagine what he could do for Compton???? ;0)

[mtman]

"blighted suburb" was all the info I needed....I believe you're guilty of racial profiling!...Just because you're right doesnt mean you shouldnt have your hands spanked by the PC police!

[F16Fighter]

Finally.

In Compton, we have an election process and government worthy of one William Jefferson Clinton.

[Theodore R.]

Isn't Compton one of those 95 percent Democrat CA cities? The election was probably nonpartisan, but I assume this is a fight between two factions of liberal Democrats. JUST SAY NO TO RIORDAN!!!

[henbane]

Last November, City Clerk Charles Davis brought 27 ballot boxes to court, saying he had simply overlooked them earlier.

Davis was also seen with the "Democrat Playbook" sticking out of his back pocket.