Los Angeles Times, CA
May 10 2013
Alleged voter fraud in Little Armenia being investigated
Backers of L.A. City Council candidate Mitch O’Farrell are accused of
illegally filling out ballots. The O’Farrell campaign counters that
workers for rival John Choi improperly filled out ballots.
By Alene Tchekmedyian and Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
May 9, 2013, 11:47 p.m.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations of voter fraud in Little
Armenia, part of a Los Angeles City Council district where two
candidates are waging a bitter battle for an open seat.
According to a spokeswoman for L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey,
prosecutors are trying to determine whether backers of one candidate
illegally filled out mail-in ballots for dozens of voters in the
Armenian enclave in East Hollywood. The May 21 election will decide
who succeeds Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor.
In a complaint sent to Lacey’s office, an attorney for candidate John
Choi accused backers of Choi’s opponent, Mitch O’Farrell, of
“widespread voter fraud and illegal electioneering activities.”
The complaint alleges that O’Farrell campaign workers filled out
voters’ ballots for their candidate while telling them they were
voting for Sam Kbushyan, a candidate of Armenian descent who ran and
lost during the primary election.
Kbushyan and many of his former campaign volunteers are now working on
behalf of O’Farrell.
The O’Farrell campaign rebuts the allegations, saying it was Choi
workers who filled out and took ballots from voters. “These are Choi
people who are doing this,” O’Farrell spokeswoman Renee Nahum said.
Nahum said the campaign plans to file its own complaint with the
district attorney that will include testimony from voters who said
they gave their ballots to Choi campaign workers who claimed that they
were representing Kbushyan.
The vote-fraud allegations are the latest in a string of accusations
to emerge from Little Armenia in recent weeks. In April, a sidewalk
altercation between vote canvassers from the two campaigns resulted in
a police investigation.
Interviews with several voters listed in the Choi complaint suggest
improper activity occurred, although it was unclear who was
responsible.
Eighty-two-year-old Raffik Hambardzumyan told the Los Angeles Times
that an Armenian-speaking woman came to his house and helped him and
his wife fill out their vote-by-mail ballots about a week ago.
Hambardzumyan, who doesn’t speak English, said the woman told them
they were voting for Kbushyan.
He was surprised when a reporter told him Kbushyan wasn’t on the
ballot. “Why, what happened that he can’t get elected?” said
Hambardzumyan.
He said he didn’t know which campaign the worker represented, and
complained about a deluge of election-related calls from multiple
groups. “Daily, 4, 5 times they call, different people saying
different things,” he said.
Both campaigns are looking for votes in Little Armenia, in large part
because Kbushyan and his supporters registered nearly 3,000 new voters
there in the March 5 primary.
Kbushyan surprised many in the political establishment when he came in
third, placing higher than several other contenders with more money
and City Hall support.
Galust Khachatryan, 65, said he was recently visited by two campaign
workers who didn’t help him vote but did take his ballot. He said they
were the same workers who appeared at his home during the primary
campaign on behalf of Kbushyan, but said he didn’t know which campaign
they were supporting now.
Star Prasamyan, who directs about two dozen O’Farrell vote canvassers
in Little Armenia, said her workers hand out fliers, tell voters about
Kbushyan’s endorsement of O’Farrell, and then leave.
She accused Choi supporters of lying about Kbushyan’s endorsement.
One woman whose name was provided to The Times by the O’Farrell
campaign corroborated that claim. In an interview, Nune Begnazaryan
said Choi supporters have come to her home on three separate occasions
over the last week.
The first and last visits were from non-Armenians who simply handed
her fliers with a picture of Choi and his ballot number, “99.”
The second visit was from two Armenian women who told her to vote for
Choi by punching “99” on the ballot because Kbushyan had endorsed him,
she said. She could not recall the names of the visitors.
Choi spokesman Mike Shimpock rebutted those claims, saying his
candidate does not want to be associated with Kbushyan. He accused the
O’Farrell campaign of “trying to cloud the water” with counterattacks.
,0,286181.story
From: A. Papazian
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-vote-fraud-20130510