INSIDE INGLEWOOD -The recent Inglewood municipal elections ended in a run-off for Districts 1 and 2.
City-wide, two illegally proposed city charter amendments were nevertheless voted in. A slew of irregularities in the ballot canvassing process appears to have pushed Inglewood City Clerk Yvonne Horton to indicate she has been slandered in a local newspaper, Morningside Park Chronicle. At the April 9 city council meeting, city clerk Yvonne Horton was allowed to air personal concerns indicating her possible campaign to file civil litigation against the Chronicle.
Horton's implied litigation may well be considered a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuit.
In the state of CA, SLAPPs are considered as an action "against people or organizations because they have exercised their First Amendment right to free speech or to petition the government."
In an unprecedented series of events, Horton was forced to have observers from all four districts monitor the ballot-canvassing process.
This was only done in the week following election night.
In the weeks leading up to the April 2 election, Horton and her staff were free to canvass the ballots in a private office without scrutiny from Martin & Chapman (the elections officials hired to tally the ballots on election night and again on Monday, April 8) or anyone else.
After the April 2 election results, however, a number of disparities were noted in the days following election night—starting within minutes of the end of the election on April 10.
Immediately following the election night returns, the ‘live’ ballots were returned to the Horton's office. Mayor James T. Butts was observed by a number of residents as he and Horton entered the city clerk's office while the ‘live’ ballots were in the office immediately following the ballot-counting process at city hall. California elections code clearly states that ‘live’ ballots require strict security.
Over the next several days, several irregularities were observed and filmed:
The official white bags containing ballots were never sealed. At least two precinct bags were observed with the adhesive strips still intact. the remainder of all the post-election uncounted bags were torn open.
A significant number of Vote By Mail (VBM) ballot envelopes were already open. City clerk staff were observed taping them closed.
Approximately 800 of the post-election uncounted VBM envelopes were without stamps and USPS cancellations. Horton explained the absence of stamps and cancellations as "ballots that were walked in to precincts be people who intended to vote by mail but didn't." She would not elaborate nor would she allow closer inspection of the envelopes.
Ballot groups with no precincts assigned were nevertheless informally assigned precincts.
Horton's multiple protests regarding "distractions" were exacerbated by Horton when she directed an Inglewood police officer to all but forcibly remove residents and at least one council member whose only "distraction" was to ask a fundamental question that Horton—the elected elections official—could not answer. (The following business day, in Community Room A, Horton directed a non-city clerk staff member to turn on the television during the middle of the public canvassing/pre-ballot counting event, an action which was clearly regarded a "distraction" by the crowd and was quickly reversed owing to the noise of the TV.)
A two-MINUTE disagreement with an observer's request to clarify why Horton was refusing to move the ballot-canvassing activity to a larger room as well as limit the number of observers was the impromptu excuse Horton employed to announce a two-HOUR delay in the beginning of the ballot-counting process. (The counting was to begin at 2 p.m. Horton's behavior and the subsequent decision to push the counting up to 4 p.m. was also caught on video.)
Horton has subsequently claimed to have felt "terrified" of an observing council member—despite having armed police officers, the city attorney, no fewer than seven city clerk staff and a number of opposition candidates and their representatives on hand the entire time.
In violation of CA elections Code 3017, Horton failed to "establish a toll-free telephone number that may be used to confirm the date a voted vote by mail ballot was received."
A significant number of Inglewood residents were mailed VBM ballots despite not having submitted written request for VBM ballots—a clear violation of CA elections Code 3001.
CA Elections code 15360 states that "during the official canvass of every election in which a voting system is used, the official conducting the election shall conduct a public manual tally of the ballots tabulated by those devices, including vote by mail ballots." Horton has failed to prove she has performed any such legal requirement.
In violation of CA elections Code 9280, Horton failed to publish in the sample ballot or anywhere else, "an impartial analysis of the measure showing the effect of the measure on the existing law and the operation of the measure" by the city attorney—the person responsible for such a statement.
Horton's husband, Jerome, is a close friend to Inglewood city attorney Cal Saunders.
Horton was responsible for unilaterally proposing two charter amendments—neither of which were formally opposed by the city attorney, as indicated above. Video evidence exhibited both charter amendments were in clear violation of CA Elections Code Section 9255-9269.
In what appears to be a retaliatory act on behalf of Inglewood city clerk Yvonne Horton, statements to the mayor have been made regarding "slander" and "litigation" regarding articles written and published by this writer exposing the many violations and possibly criminal behavior of the city clerk.
LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacey's office has refused to investigate these and other of the Inglewood city clerk's latest election and ballot canvassing/counting irregularities despite significant video and other documented evidence presented.
Photos of Saunders and his family at Lacey's October, 2012 inaugural party indicate a close relationship between the DA and the city attorney.
Calls to Horton, Saunders and the DA's office were not returned.
(Randall Fleming is a veteran journalist and magazine publisher. He has worked at and for the New York Post, the Brooklyn Spectator and the Los Feliz Ledger. He is currently editor-in-chief at the Morningside Park Chronicle, a monthly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at www.MorningsideParkChronicle.com)
-cw
Tags: Randall Fleming, Inside Inglewood, Inglewood elections, Yvonne Horton, Inglewood City Clerk
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 30
Pub: Apr 12, 2013
