Memo reveals ineligible votes cast in election for Democratic delegates, prompts ballot redo

As the California Democratic Party prepares for its convention next month in Orange County, an internecine squabble about delegates from the La Cañada, Burbank and Glendale areas has pulled back the curtain on local allegiances and power struggles.

The issue began during an election for delegates in January on the Glendale Community College campus. Friends and associates of the losing slate of candidates — strong allies of Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) — complained of numerous voting problems, including ineligible voters and people allowed to vote multiple times.

Though state Democratic officials rejected claims of outright fraud, they ordered a redo of the election itself this week, finding about 16% of voters were not qualified to cast a ballot — including one cast under the name of Gatto’s district director.

As of the latest count, at least 117 of the 738 who voted either did not live in the 43rd Assembly District or were not members of the Democratic Party — both requirements to vote for the party-specific positions — according to a memo from Chris Myers, managing director of the California Democratic Party. Another 100 or so could not be verified one way or the other.

Twelve of the 14 members of the winning Democrats United slate saw their election nullified as a result. Berdj Karapetian and Shant Sahakian, however, received enough votes that the number of ineligible voters would not have affected their outcomes, officials ruled.

Thomas O’Shaughnessy, who was the election’s official convener, said he did not witness any fraud during the voting process. He also said he was careful to distance himself from the actual ballots because of his association with former Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, a political rival of Gatto. O’Shaughnessy is a former Portantino staffer.

O’Shaughnessy said he believes “good-faith confusion” was a main reason for the bad ballots. During primary elections, he said, decline-to-state voters can request a Democratic ballot. That’s not the case for delegate elections.

“I think people just got confused,” he said.

Despite acknowledging the large number of ineligible ballots, Karapetian said his slate plans to appeal the decision. He noted the initial challenge to the results was rejected, and claimed it was only reversed after Gatto became personally involved.

Karapetian said it defies logic to claim all the challenged votes would have chosen him or his slate, noting an ineligible ballot was cast by Justin Hager. In addition to running Gatto’s local office, Hager often serves as the assemblyman’s spokesman.

“You think he was going to vote for me?” Karapetian said with a laugh.

State Democratic officials confirmed a “Justin Hager” participated in the election, giving an address within district boundaries. Later research, however, showed that Hager did not live within the district during the required time frame.

Reached Wednesday, Gatto declined to comment about his involvement in the appeals process. Hager could not be reached for comment.

The Democrats United slate — made up by supporters of Ardy Kassakhian, Anthony Portantino or unaffiliated party activists — faced off against the Progressive slate, essentially all of whom are strong allies of Gatto.

Portantino, a former assemblyman from La Cañada, has announced plans to run for a state Senate seat when state Sen. Carol Liu terms out next year. Gatto, who frequently sparred with Portantino when both were in the capitol, has begun raising funds for the same race, but has not formally announced a run.

Kassakhian, currently Glendale’s city clerk, has announced plans to run for Gatto’s seat when the assemblyman is himself termed out next year. Portantino and Kassakhian are longtime allies.

Gatto ally and Glendale Councilwoman Laura Friedman, however, has announced plans to run for the same assembly seat, raising questions that the delegate fracas is actually a proxy battle between Gatto and Portantino.

Malcolm George, who saw his delegate win nullified, said he was at a loss to say what happened.

“This was all done at the request of an elected official who didn’t like the results,” he said, referring to Gatto. “Everything was going one way, he got involved and then [state Democratic officials] changed their tune.”

Delegates, who are elected for two-year terms, attend the state convention and help choose the party’s official endorsement for races in its jurisdiction, including state Senate and Assembly.

Myers said he ordered a partial review of the votes after a challenge by Burbank Unified board of education member Charlene Tabet and two others. Tabet has both endorsed Gatto and been endorsed by him as well as donated to his 2014 assembly campaign.

Tabet, who was not a candidate for the 2015 election, said she spoke up after seeing people vote twice. She said she was not asked by Gatto to challenge the results.

After finding problems, Myers ordered a full review, which turned up more than 100 ineligible names. The memo does not accuse anyone of fraud or other malfeasance, and remains silent as to how the problems occurred.

Every other year, seven men and seven women are elected as district delegates and one person is elected as an executive board representative.

May 9 is the deadline to file an appeal of the commission’s ruling. However, if an appeal is filed by May 1, it would be heard by the credentials committee at the state Democratic Convention in Anaheim, which runs May 15 through 18.

If the Democrats United slate wins their appeal “they would be seated immediately,” said O’Shaughnessy. Fighting for political dominance among local Democrats, however, is certain to continue.