Ballot tampering alleged in San Francisco mayoral election

Seven candidates vying to become this city’s next mayor have requested that federal observers and state election monitors be dispatched to San Francisco immediately amid allegations of ballot tampering by interim Mayor Ed Lee’s supporters.

“Depriving someone of their ability to freely exercise their vote is the most unconscionable crime,” Jeff Adachi said during a news conference Monday. The public defender is among those who signed the letter seeking intervention from the U.S. Justice Department and California secretary of state. “What we are seeing here is a pattern of corrupt activity,” Adachi said.

A district attorney’s spokeswoman said the office had opened a preliminary investigation into the allegations. They include claims that last week, Lee’s supporters marked absentee ballots for Chinese-speaking voters, used plastic stencils to persuade them to weigh in only on the mayoral contest and took possession of their sealed and signed ballots.

By law, absentee ballots must be brought by the voter to a polling station Nov. 8, election day; to the City Elections Department, where early voting is already underway; or to a post office. Home-bound voters must designate a representative to do so.

Adam Keigwin, who is working on state Sen. Leland Yee’s mayoral campaign, is among several people who reported seeing Lee’s supporters late last week helping to mark voter ballots. The supporters placed some of those ballots in an orange canvas sack, he said.

The activity, Keigwin said, occurred at a tent in San Francisco’s Chinatown set up by SF Neighbor Alliance — an independent political committee that opponents contend is illegally coordinating its activities with the front-runner, Lee.

“It happened not only in front of me, but in front of reporters,” Keigwin said. A story in the online publication Bay Citizen was accompanied by a photograph that showed what appeared to be a ballot envelope poking out of the bag.

SF Neighbor Alliance spokesman Enrique Pearce did not return calls for comment Monday. He earlier told the San Francisco Chronicle that the group was merely doing voter outreach and education.

Lee distanced himself from the committee, calling the alleged activities “moronic” in a television interview and saying the group has “nothing to do with my campaign.”

His campaign spokesman, Tony Winnicker, said Lee supports Dist. Atty. George Gascon’s investigation into the alleged ballot tampering. “To be candid, if we were controlling and coordinating with them, they wouldn’t be doing any of the stupid things that they’re doing,” Winnicker said.

A spokeswoman said the Justice Department would review the candidates’ request for federal elections monitors, which was faxed to the Civil Rights Division on Sunday. A spokeswoman for California Secretary of State Debra Bowen would not comment, saying all allegations and investigations are confidential.

lee.romney@latimes.com

Times staff writer Maria L. La Ganga contributed to this report.