Rival Factions Face Off, Cause Disturbance at Site of Polling : Election: Backers of a school trustee are angry that a critic’s home was a voting site. Some say the shouting match scared away voters.

County officials and sheriff’s deputies broke up an Election Day shouting match in a polling place at the home of a resident who campaigned against an ABC school board member.

The altercation began when two supporters of board incumbent Cecy Groom argued with poll volunteers at 21926 Seine Ave., election officials said. The supporters said voters were intimidated because the house was the base of operations for the anti-Groom campaign of Joe Cabrera Zermeno, who lives in the house.

Poll inspector Matilda Alfaro said the dispute started about 1 p.m. when Groom allies Carlos Navejas and his wife, Kathleen, a Hawaiian Gardens City Council member, arrived at the site.

“Carlos Navejas started yelling directly at me, ‘You’re responsible. They are politicking outside,’ ” Alfaro recounted. “I said, ‘We have not seen anything.’

“(Polling) was so slow. We spent an awful lot of time looking out the window,” she added.

Zermeno reportedly joined in the shouting, saying that there was nothing improper about the polling place and that his home had served that purpose before. Groom then arrived and joined the argument, the poll inspector said.

Alfaro called the county registrar’s office, which sent two election officials and summoned Lakewood sheriff’s deputies, who separated the feuding parties. The deputies departed, but the election officials remained to make sure there were no further incidents.

Groom said that she had complained to officials before Election Day about the location of the polling place.

“The registrar’s office did not take much effort to make sure the voting process was properly administered,” said Groom, who was the leading vote-getter among nine candidates in Tuesday’s school board election.

Kathleen Navejas and Groom said they heard that Zermeno was trying to influence voters near the polling place. Such electioneering is prohibited within 100 feet of a polling place. Groom said that after she arrived at the polling place, Zermeno “began yelling that I was a bad candidate.”

Zermeno said Groom threatened him. Groom called it a civilized warning not to interfere with voters. Zermeno then turned on his video camera to record the argument, in which he admits he took a lively role.

“Zermeno used his house as a polling place, and this guy is doing a smear campaign against Cecy Groom,” Navejas said. “Voters don’t know if they’re voting at a precinct.”

Zermeno is also a foe of Councilwoman Navejas. He formed Residents Against Corruption, a group that is trying to organize a recall effort against her. Navejas has filed a lawsuit accusing Zermeno of defamation.

During the confrontation last week at Zermeno’s residence, both sides accused the other of voter intimidation, a sensitive issue in a town less than a square mile in size and where many residents know each other.

Groom and Navejas said Groom supporters were scared away by Zermeno’s video camera and by knowing that Zermeno’s home was the polling place. Zermeno said the presence of Groom, Navejas and the poll watchers frightened away voters.

There are no laws that restrict a registered voter from either hosting a polling place or quietly observing an election on the premises, as long as there is no electioneering, said Marcia Ventura, spokeswoman for the registrar.

Voter Vicky Canoy said the shouting match nearly dissuaded her from casting a ballot. She said she felt uneasy approaching a polling place filled with sheriff’s deputies and screaming people. “You don’t want to go in there,” she said.

Times Staff Writer Lorna Fernandes contributed to this story.