Trustee questions voting system

COUNTY: Tobin Brinker says some may have been "coerced" into choosing more than one candidate.

November 16, 2005

By CADONNA PEYTON / The Press-Enterprise

A trustee for Colton Joint Unified School District who apparently lost his seat in the election is questioning the validity of San Bernardino County's voting system.

According to semifinal election results, incumbent Tobin Brinker lost his seat by more than 100 votes to Mel Albiso.

However, in an e-mail to the San Bernardino County registrar of voters, Brinker noted several concerns that he hoped would prompt another look at the results.

One of his concerns involved another candidate, Loretta Pearce, who garnered 4,241 San Bernardino County votes about 232 less than Brinker.

In his e-mail, Brinker said Pearce had no candidate statement, raised no money, and had no signs or mailers.

"Is it possible that the voting machines incorrectly registered votes for me ... as votes for Loretta Pierce (sic)?," he wrote.

Pearce said she didn't campaign because of death and illness in her family. Pearce also said many factors may have contributed to her votes. Her husband is a teacher at Colton High School, and she has friends in the area, she said.

Brinker also said some voters may have been "coerced" into voting for more than one candidate in his area.

In cases where voters could cast a ballot for more than one candidate, the system twice notifies them that they may not have voted for all their choices, he said by phone.

Brinker said that he tells some constituents to only vote for him because that second could go to "the person who defeats me."

The incumbent said right now he is just looking for some answers, because he doesn't have much trust in the registrar's office.

When he was elected four years ago there was a programming error that led to a recount. Initial results first showed him in the lead by over 200 votes but after a recount, Brinker said, he won by 12.

The registrar of voters office did not return calls for comment

Brinker said he will wait for the final results on Monday to make any decisions about his next course of action.

"If I lost that's fine. I just want to make sure they got it right," he said.

If the results stand, Thursday will be Brinker's last school-board meeting.