Hahn wants to know why ballots re-inked

By Rick Orlov   Los Angeles Daily News   15 March 2005
Staff Writer

Mayor James Hahn questioned on Monday why the City Clerk's Office hand-sorted ballots on election night so workers could re-ink ballots that might have been marked too faintly to be counted accurately by machine.

Without informing the candidates or setting up a system of independent observers, City Clerk Frank Martinez had his staff and temporary election workers use blue highlighters to mark Ink-A-Vote ballots they deemed questionable a practice that has raised concerns about the integrity of the election process.

"I do have questions, as the City Council does, on what happened election night," Hahn said in an interview. "This is the first time we used the Ink-A-Vote system and I want to make sure the original ballots were not obliterated in any way.

"Ideally, we would have a situation where none of the ballots are touched."

The City Council already had planned to review what happened election night, when the count was delayed for hours despite the low turnout and relatively few contested offices.

Council President Alex Padilla said questions about the re-inking of ballots will be given top priority.

"Our voting procedures are precious and we want to make sure everything proper was done," Padilla said.

"But, having said that, I am sure that there was nothing improper done with the ballots. The concerns we have are the timing and making sure that the ballots were handled properly."

Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who introduced the motion calling for the review of the election, said she is writing to Martinez to demand answers to the questions that have been raised.

"I don't believe he shared with us the methods that were going to be used in highlighting ballots. Our first concern has to be the integrity of the ballots and having an accurate and fair election."

Martinez said there are 24,000 ballots still to be counted, as well as tabulations to be completed in 13 precincts. He intends to "open" the process to assuage concerns about how the ballots were counted.

"What we are looking for is transparency," Martinez said Monday, after a weekend of controversy over disclosure by the Daily News of how thousands of ballots were marked up by election workers.

"We were following the guidelines of the state. Our concern was to make sure all the ballots were counted."

However, under criticism from some of the campaigns and other election observers, Martinez said he is taking precautions to make sure everyone is satisfied with the certification procedure, expected to be completed March 29. The uncounted votes should be tallied a day or two before certification.

"All the campaigns can have someone here and I'm thinking of sending letters out to invite them," Martinez said. "We would do nothing to jeopardize the election process."

Hahn and the City Council have called on Martinez to report to them on what happened election night. In addition to the hand-sorting of ballots, there was a delay in getting them to Piper Technical Center for counting when fog grounded two helicopters.

Martinez, whom Hahn named city clerk last September, said he had taken extra precautions to make sure the election ran seamlessly.

County election officials who observed the process, however, said they believed the hand-sorting and re-inking were unnecessary since Ink-A-Vote machines are designed to process even the slightest mark.

"I have spoken with him briefly since then and he still believes he made the right call," said Kris Heffron, chief deputy registrar-recorder for Los Angeles County, who was at Piper Technical Center as the ballots were being hand-sorted. "He was concerned about a close election and wanted to make sure the results came out accurately."

Martinez said workers used a blue highlighter to mark ballots where it was believed the marking was too faint for the computer to read. The highlighting allows those ballots to be reviewed if there is any question about the vote, Martinez said.

Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who finished first in the election, is monitoring the situation.

"We will watch to see how the certification process goes and then make a decision if further action is needed," Villaraigosa campaign consultant Ace Smith said.

Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, who finished fewer than 6,000 votes behind Hahn, said he also would be watching the certification process to determine whether he should take legal action.

Martinez said he has not received a formal complaint from any of the campaigns.

Martinez said the same issues will not affect the May 17 runoff election, when voters will decide the mayor's race, two ballot measures and a runoff in the 11th Council District.

"Because it is such a small ballot, we won't even be using voting machines," Martinez said. "Voters will be given a ballot and fill out the circles themselves and it will be obvious if there is a problem."

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