Hollister
– San Benito County’s civil and criminal grand juries will be
investigating alleged irregularities in two races in the Nov. 7
election.
Hollister – San Benito County’s civil and criminal grand juries will be investigating alleged irregularities in two races in the Nov. 7 election.
District Attorney John Sarsfield said his office will help the grand juries examine both the District 4 supervisor race and the race for San Benito High School’s governing board.
“(The investigation) will be going on for some time, well after I’m gone,” said Sarsfield, whose term ends Jan. 1.
Voter Alan Swain recently approached District 4 candidate Tracie Cone’s campaign with concerns about an electronic voting machine. Swain said that when he tried to vote at the Ridgemark polling station, the machine would not allow him to choose Cone or victorious state Assembly candidate Anna Caballero. He could, however, select and deselect their opponents without difficulty. Swain added that he was only able to cast his vote for Cone after he shook the voting machine vigorously. He also told the Free Lance that when his wife was arrived at Ridgemark later in the day, she was directed to vote at the same ma-chine.
According to the final count released by the elections office, Cone lost to incumbent Reb Monaco by 60 votes, 49.22 percent to 50.78 percent.
John Hodges, the county’s registrar of voters, said he will cooperate with the investigations. He added, “I don’t know of anything that went wrong. We did a flawless election, basically.”
In addition to the Cone-Monaco race, Sarsfield said, the grand jury will investigate the competition for three seats on the high school board. Rev. Ardyss Golden of the Hollister United Methodist Church was a candidate in the school board election, but she was later disqualified because she does not live in the district. Nonetheless, Golden received 1,820 votes, enough to potentially change the outcome of the election.
The grand jury will be investigating how Golden got onto the ballot, but Sarsfield emphasized, “She’s not suspected of anything.”
The civil jury will be looking into whether there were any errors, and if so, how they occurred and how they can be avoided in the future, Sarsfield said.
The criminal jury will investigate the possibility that someone committed a crime during the election.
“That is, frankly, unlikely, but they have an obligation to look at that as well,” Sarsfield said.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to certify the election at its meeting on Dec. 5. Sarsfield said that after the election is certified, any aggrieved candidates will have 30 days to file a lawsuit.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
