Compton City Councilman Isaac Galvan, 5 Others Charged With Election Fraud
COMPTON (CBSLA) — Compton City Councilman Isaac Galvan and five others were charged Friday with election fraud, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced.
Galvan and former Compton City Council candidate Jace Dawson, both 34, were charged with working together to help Galvan retain his District 2 seat. Dawson also faces a charge of trying to bribe a registrar employee as she was counting ballots on election night.
"While we do not have all of the details regarding the charges brought against Councilman Galvan, the City takes any charges of elections fraud extremely seriously," a statement from Compton Mayor Emma Sharif said in part.
Four others were also charged in the case – 34-year-old Toni Morris, 48-year-old Kimberly Chaouch, 61-year-old Barry Reed, and 51-year-old Reginald Streeter all allegedly registered to vote at Dawson's address in Compton, even though they didn't live there. All four are charged with voting illegally in the election.
Galvan had won a tight election over his challenger, Andre Spicer, 855 to 854.
Galvan and Dawson pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday, and are scheduled to return to court on Sept. 17. The four other defendants will be arraigned at a later date, according to the District Attorney's Office.
