While District Attorney John Sarsfield has been awaiting a
report from the Secretary of State’s Office for months before
proceeding with a probe of the District 5 election, it turns out
the Elections Office overlooked an e-mail and compounded the
delay.
Hollister – While District Attorney John Sarsfield has been awaiting a report from the Secretary of State’s Office for months before proceeding with a probe of the District 5 election, it turns out the Elections Office overlooked an e-mail and compounded the delay.
The Secretary of State’s Office has been waiting on two records requested in an e-mail June 8 from the local elections office. An elections worker lost track of the request – which she didn’t realized related to the District 5 probe – until the state sent another letter last week demanding a prompt response.
Sarsfield, meanwhile, has been awaiting the state’s audit of the March election to decide the direction of the criminal probe into claims Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz and his adviser broke elections laws.
Sarsfield said Tuesday he’s willing to wait “a little while” longer before moving forward on the probe, but that he wants it wrapped up – with or without the state’s report – in the next four to six weeks. Sarsfield could press charges, call for a grand jury investigation or drop the investigation altogether – depending on the strength of evidence.
In the June 8 e-mail, the Secretary of State’s Office requested lists containing:
n Voters who have moved out of San Benito County but are still registered here
n Voters whose names raise red flags for possibly voting more than once
Although that information doesn’t directly tie in to the District 5 investigation, Sarsfield said the state office is conducting a “much broader” probe of the March race that could influence his decision.
Registrar John Hodges said the Secretary of State’s Office routinely requests such lists from registrars “up and down the state.” He said the two requested documents don’t relate to the District 5 investigation at all. And he’s not sure why his office’s mistake somehow delayed its progress.
“I don’t have the foggiest idea,” Hodges said.
The investigation into De La Cruz and adviser Ignacio Velazquez that began in March has been sidetracked several times – including the most recent two-month delay. An investigator hired by the county recommended felony charges against both men for allegations that include illegal handling of ballots and coercion of a voter.
“At least (people) understand where the delay is,” Sarsfield said. “It’s not on my desk.”
After two months without receiving the two lists from local officials, the Secretary of State’s Office sent another request Aug. 23, this time giving the elections office an Aug. 27 deadline to respond, according to the letter obtained by the Free Lance.
Elections supervisor Kim Hawk acknowledged Tuesday she received the request, sent to a general Elections Office e-mail account, from state investigators.
She printed the document, she said, but didn’t realize it related to the District 5 election. Afterward, she lost track of it. Hodges was not notified until Friday that the state was awaiting records, he said.
Hawk said she’s not sure if state investigators followed up with a phone call after the original e-mail.
“I don’t know if we were (contacted) or not,” she said.
She did reply by the Aug. 27 deadline and subsequently sent the information to the state Tuesday afternoon, she said. Elections officials say their misplacement of the state’s first inquiry was an honest mistake.
Gillian Underwood is the analyst in the state office who sent the initial e-mail. When reached Tuesday, she referred comments to the press office, which didn’t respond to a message.
Kollin Kosmicki is a Free Lance staff writer. E-mail him at [email protected] or call (831) 637-5566, ext. 331.
