Judge Orders New Election in Inglewood Council Race

Superior Court Judge Leon Savitch invalidated the election of an Inglewood city councilman Friday because of Election Code violations involving absentee ballots and ordered that a new election be held.

The ruling came after the six-day trial of a lawsuit filed by Garland Hardeman, a Los Angeles police officer who lost a bitterly contested June 16 runoff election to Ervin (Tony) Thomas by 16 votes. Hardeman charged that Thomas and Mayor Edward Vincent, Thomas’ chief political backer, committed widespread Election Code violations in an absentee ballot drive that wiped out Hardeman’s wide lead in votes cast at the polls. Thomas received a total of 395 absentee ballots; Hardeman had 64.

“More than 16 votes were cast illegally,” Savitch said in making his initial ruling on a suit challenging 63 votes. “The voters have been prevented from freely expressing their will. I order that this election be annulled and set aside.”

Witnesses testified during the trial that Vincent and other Thomas campaign workers went to their homes and pressured them to cast absentee ballots, in some cases punching ballots for them and in others telling them to vote and sign the ballots of family members.

Mark Borenstein, a lawyer for the firm of Tuttle & Taylor who represented Hardeman at no charge, also alleged that at least 14 absentee ballots were illegally hand-delivered to the polls by third parties, that some votes were cast by non-residents who listed abandoned buildings or Thomas’ campaign headquarters as their addresses, and that at least 17 ballot signatures did not match signatures on ballot applications or registration records.

Savitch said he will have to consult the law before deciding on a date for the new election.

City Atty. Howard Rosten, who defended the city against the lawsuit that also named Thomas and the city clerk, said he will await the final judgment before deciding whether to appeal. The decision will remove Thomas from office unless there is an appeal. Thomas said he would run in a new election.

“Justice has prevailed,” said Hardeman, who had the help of Borenstein and lawyers from the Center for Law in the Public Interest in an independent investigation that took on Inglewood’s political leaders. “In the future, the mayor and Thomas are going to find out the wrath of the people.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office opened a criminal investigation into Hardeman’s charges in July, and a spokesman said this week that the investigation was continuing.