Reply #14: LAT: City Clerk Defends Over-Marking of Mayoral Ballots [View All]

[Wilms]

City Clerk Defends Over-Marking of Mayoral Ballots

But his report concedes he should have told candidates in advance of the planned procedures.

By Patrick McGreevy
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

22 March 2005

City Clerk Frank Martinez told the Los Angeles City Council on Monday that he acted with justifiable prudence on election night, inspecting every ballot by hand and over-marking ballots where the voter's ink mark might not have been read by vote-counting machines.

In a seven-page report responding to council concerns about election-night delays, Martinez acknowledged that he should have notified the candidates about the unusual procedures so they could have sent observers, and he said he should have told the California secretary of state's office about a change of software meant to guarantee an accurate vote count.

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In defending the decision, Martinez cited testimony to a state voting panel in which a representative of the secretary of state said the review of every ballot and over-marking is a critical procedure used by other jurisdictions.

Martinez said the Los Angeles County registrar over-marks ballots after election night in cases where it appears the inked votes may not be machine-readable.

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http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=5044