STATE : Smith’s Election Plea Rejected
Democrat Arlo Smith’s attempt to overturn his narrow loss to Republican Dan Lungren in the attorney general’s election last November was rejected by the state Supreme Court today, three days before Lungren takes office.
The court denied a hearing on a claim by Smith, the San Francisco district attorney, that absentee ballots were improperly verified in 37 counties and should not have been counted.
Only Justice Allen Broussard voted to grant review of the suit, which had been dismissed by lower courts. Four votes are needed for review by the seven-member court. Justice Stanley Mosk did not participate.
Lungren, a former congressman, beat Smith by 3,579,389 to 3,407,927 votes, out of 6.71 million votes cast, according to the official tally of the secretary of state’s office.
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