Carter Keeps Compton Win After Recount

After more than 1,500 ballots were recounted by hand on Tuesday, retired parks employee James E. Carter retained his three-vote victory margin and was officially declared the winner of last month’s Compton Community College trustee election.

Carter ended the recount with 753 votes, while incumbent Carl E. Robinson received 750, according to Marcia Ventura, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County registrar of voters.

The tally, requested by Robinson, brought to a close a see-saw contest that had the incumbent leading by a single vote on election night but then losing by three a few weeks later after absentee and damaged ballots had been counted. While the recount left the results unchanged, county election officials found that each candidate had been wrongly credited with one vote more than he actually received.

Carter has already assumed his new college post.

Robinson, who recently retired from the Postal Service, still faces criminal charges of soliciting and accepting a $500 political bribe from a West Covina accountant who does business with the college. He acknowledges receiving the money but has pleaded innocent, contending that it was a legal campaign contribution. His trial is scheduled to start Dec. 17 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Both candidates have said the controversy surrounding Robinson was the major issue in the race. Robinson had defeated Carter in two previous elections.