Voting Coercion Charges Fly in Calif. City

[Rose Siding]

VERNON, Calif. -- It took a judge's order to force the first local election in 25 years in this industrial city, and it was a contest filled with allegations of intimidation, harassment and undercover surveillance.

And it wasn't over when the polls closed, either.

On Tuesday night, a clerk promptly carried a metal ballot box into the City Council chamber and announced he would not count the votes.

The bizarre, and some say illegal, decision was just the latest eyebrow-raising political turn in Vernon, a city on the edge of Los Angeles where the mayor and council members have served for decades without opposition and most of the voters hold municipal jobs while living in city-owned houses.
...
In their legal papers, the challengers charge that voters in Vernon are beholden to a City Hall that dispenses paychecks and arranges sweetheart rents. Vernon, they say, is a company town where the government is the company.

On Tuesday, acting City Clerk Bruce Malkenhorst Jr. said he would keep the ballot box locked until the court fight is resolved. An attorney for the challengers, Albert Robles, called the move "absolutely not legal," and said he planned to file a federal complaint accusing the city of violating voters' civil rights.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201291.html

[rpannier]

1. I don't know these people and I don't know their party affiliations, but

it sounds pretty criminal.
Something needs to be done about Vernon.

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. I beleive that most, if not all, local election in CA are non-partisan

[rinsd]

7. It's an absolutely bizarre case

Its an industrial center with less than 50 actual residents.

Read up on it.

[UrbScotty]

2. I smell many rats. (nt)

[datadiva]

3. Unreal

This sounds like something out of a Bad B Movie.

[Copperred]

4. THE SINGLE BIGGEST ISSUE AMERICANS FACE IS VOTING

ELECTION REFORM

1. NATIONAL STANDARD THAT ENSURE PAPER TRAIN AND VERIFICATION.

2. OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CAN BE CLOSED SOURCE SOFTWARE

3. IF INDIAN VILLAGERS CAN VOTE!!! U SHOULD BE ABLE TOO ALSO!!!


NOT IRAQ, ABORTION, ISRAEL, TAXES, IRAN, HEALTHCARE, IMMIGRATION!!!! NONE OF THIS MATTERS IN THE FACE OF ELECTION REFORM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS NOT A JOKE

[WhiteTara]

5. we hear you Copperred

keep up the good fight. Watch your blood pressure, we need you around for a long time. ;)