OC DA Continues Investigation Into Potential Ballot Tampering In Westminster
WESTMINSTER (CBSLA) — Election Day is over, but the Orange County District Attorney's Office Wednesday continued its investigation into what went on at a Westminster campaign office Tuesday.
According to authorities, ads ran on Vietnamese radio stations telling voters they could cast their ballots at the reelection office for Dr. Kimberly Ho, a Westminster City Council member who won her bid for reelection office.
Van Tran, Ho's attorney, said voters, for many of whom English is not their first language, came to the office for help.
"If you don't know who to vote for, or the myriad of propositions, yes or no, then you can also seek advice here and ask for recommendations and suggestions," he said. "You don't have to take them, but you can ask of course."
"So, a third party, I can help my father fill out his ballot, but you cannot as a candidate or an operative of a campaign, be there while somebody is casting their ballot," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. "That is considered undue influence and improper."
Spitzer said there was no immediate evidence that ballots were discarded, though an election protection attorney alleged that a mail-in ballot envelope with a missing ballot was found in a dumpster behind the Westminster reelection office.
"Some of the voters who came by wanted to have a new ballot because they made a boo boo on the old ballot, and they don't have a printer or they don't know how to access that through the [registrar's office], but that's allowed," Tran said. "It's completely legal and legitimate."
"Even though the election's over and maybe this didn't affect a close race, and maybe it did affect a close race, we have to know what the process was and if people followed the law," Spitzer said.
Some of the videos posted to social media at the scene showed people wearing t-shirts in support of congressional candidate Michelle Steel, though her campaign denied any involvement.
