Voter Fraud

Re "Failure's no option in fight for Florida," May 7 That there are "places that don't matter in the general election" of a free, democratic society is a disgrace. The two-party system, regardless of which party happens to dominate, fosters the pandering to and representation of the few while rendering whole segments of the population voiceless. Angeline Olliff Mission Hills ALSO: Letters: Smoking tax Letters: Subway horrors Letters: Marriage and North Carolina

Re "Failure's no option in fight for Florida," May 7 That there are "places that don't matter in the general election" of a free, democratic society is a disgrace. The two-party system, regardless of which party happens to dominate, fosters the pandering to and representation of the few while rendering whole segments of the population voiceless. Angeline Olliff Mission Hills ALSO: Letters: Smoking tax Letters: Subway horrors Letters: Marriage and North Carolina

A grand jury unsealed a 24-count felony indictment on Wednesday against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, saying they committed perjury and voter fraud when they listed their home as being in Panorama City. Ending a 15-month investigation by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's Public Integrity Division, the criminal grand jury accused Alarcon and his wife of falsely claiming that their home was at an address in Alarcon's 7th Council District, which takes in a portion of the northeast San Fernando Valley.

Re "A tale of two narratives," Opinion, May 6 Historian Joseph J. Ellis writes that conservatives were the central feature of the founding of the United States. But using the dictionary definition of "liberals" as being open to change and reform, it's obvious the opposite is true. The conservatives of 1776 were loyalists who fought with the British. The French, Russian and American revolutions were all the work of liberals to escape oppressive governments and to start new, democratic systems.

The city of Vernon on Wednesday was roiled by allegations of widespread voter fraud, including claims that outsiders were brought in to vote in an attempt to influence the city's first competitive election in years. The Chamber of Commerce alleges that nearly 30% of the registered voters didn't live in Vernon. In response to the group's complaints, city officials threw out six ballots Tuesday, tilting the election for a City Council seat to challenger Michael Ybarra, who won by five votes.

A grand jury has handed down a 24-count felony indictment against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, accusing them of perjury and voter fraud stemming from their assertion in that they lived in a home in Panorama City. In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Grand Jury said Alarcon and his wife falsely claimed that they lived in a house within Alarcon's 7th Council District in the San Fernando Valley. Alarcon and his wife both pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance.

A former mayor of Vernon and his wife were convicted Friday of voter fraud and conspiracy, capping a three-year legal saga that ended the family's long grip over the tiny industrial city in southeast Los Angeles County. Prosecutors accused Leonis and Dominica Malburg of engaging in an elaborate sham in which they pretended to reside in Vernon while actually living in a large home in Hancock Park, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Max Huntsman. "Many politicians . . . claim they can run for office where they don't really live," Huntsman said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney has launched an investigation into "allegations of impropriety" in the upcoming election in Inglewood, a spokeswoman said Thursday. The inquiry by the office's Bureau of Investigation began within the last month, said district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons, who said she could not elaborate on the probe. But Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), in a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen.

I read, with interest, your article about the investigation of possible voter registration fraud by employees of the California Voter Registration Project and the Assembly Democrats Statewide Voter Registration Project (Oct. 14). One very important fact was not mentioned: It was the Democratic Caucus in the Assembly that asked for the investigation two months ago, after our own internal verification process identified the possible wrongdoing by employees of those private firms that had been contracted to implement voter registration.

Compton City Councilwoman Leslie Irving denied in court Friday that she registered noncitizens to vote in that city's controversial June election, testimony that conflicted with that of two immigrant women the day before. Irving testified in the Compton election fraud trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court that she never went to the trailer park where Elvira Andrabe and Anatacia Boap lived and that she did not know either woman.

Re "Running on different kind of record," May 5 Drunk driving, shoplifting, carrying a loaded firearm onto a commercial airliner, lying about place of residence and then voting fraudulently. Sound like a laundry list of charges against members of the Mafia? Think again. This is a list of alleged improprieties involving five California state legislators and one former state senator. And these bottom-feeders have the audacity to present themselves to the voters of California as candidates worthy of reelection.

Moving swiftly after a judge dismissed his case Thursday morning, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley six hours later refiled 24 perjury and voter fraud charges against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca Alarcon. The new charges, which accuse the Alarcons of lying about living in a house in Panorama City so that the councilman could run for his 7th District seat, mirror the allegations in the grand jury indictment thrown out by Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy, who was ruling on a defense motion.

The city of Vernon on Wednesday was roiled by allegations of widespread voter fraud, including claims that outsiders were brought in to vote in an attempt to influence the city's first competitive election in years. The Chamber of Commerce alleges that nearly 30% of the registered voters didn't live in Vernon. In response to the group's complaints, city officials threw out six ballots Tuesday, tilting the election for a City Council seat to challenger Michael Ybarra, who won by five votes.

The first competitive election in Vernon in years was thrown into chaos late Tuesday amid accusations of voter fraud before officials could begin counting the ballots. A city canvassing board was set to tally the 53 ballots cast in the election at 8 p.m. when an attorney representing the Chamber of Commerce said he wanted to present evidence that seven voters didn't live in the city. The board decided to hold a hearing on the allegations before the counting of the ballots for one City Council seat.

A high-profile perjury and voter fraud case against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife could be in trouble based on a judge's warning at a court hearing last month, transcripts show. In the March 2 hearing, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy sharply criticized the prosecution's case and scolded Deputy Dist. Atty. Jennifer Lentz Snyder for being "very dismissive" of defense evidence submitted to a grand jury in 2010. Those jurors returned a 24-count felony indictment against the Alarcons, who have pleaded not guilty.

Council elections in the city of Vernon are usually formalities. The last time a new candidate was voted into office, Richard Nixon was still president. But this spring, after a series of corruption scandals and a reform effort at City Hall, the industrial city is holding its first open, competitive council election in years. The race has stirred up the tiny community, bringing door-to-door campaigners, fliers and candidates' forums for the first time in recent memory. Vernon only has 74 registered voters, though, and some of them resent all the commotion.

Can sportswriters really be trusted with voting for football and baseball hall of fame candidates? Sportswriter Norman Chad doesn't think so. Writing for AOL, he pointed out recently that in 1936, for the first baseball Hall of Fame induction class, 11 of 226 voters didn't vote for Babe Ruth. Four of the 226 didn't vote for Ty Cobb. He found 20 of 302 voters in 1966 left a blank next to Ted Williams' name. And in 1979, 23 of 432 didn't vote for Willie Mays.

Re "Bill to Bolster Election Clout Gains," May 31 Under the current Electoral College system, voter fraud and corruption are limited to a particular state. No matter how many dead people vote in Chicago, the effect on the national election doesn't go beyond Illinois' electoral votes. If California awards its votes based on the popular vote in the entire country, the incentive for voter fraud across the nation would become huge. When Louisiana casts millions more votes than it has registered voters, are we really going to reward that behavior with California's electoral votes?

The city of Vernon has launched an investigation of questionable voter registrations, weeks before its first election since a series of government reforms were enacted. The city, which was nearly disincorporated last year after a series of corruption scandals, has received several complaints about a surge of new registered voters, said John Van de Kamp, the former state attorney general who is acting as Vernon's ethics advisor. County records show there are nine registered voters — with six different last names — at one small home owned by the city.

I got kicked out of a Nevada caucus. I had gone Saturday morning to a community center at Sun City Anthem, where I'd interviewed voters during previous elections. A hub for an age-restricted community of mostly retirees, the building was so packed that one precinct had been moved into the lobby. I chose at random precinct 1721, where voters had crammed into a small, stuffy room. It wasn't much of a secret that I was a reporter: I wore a press badge issued by the Clark County GOP around my neck and was scribbling on a yellow notepad the size of a hardcover book.