Judge Refuses to Throw Out Vote Results in El Segundo

A Superior Court judge has rejected a lawsuit brought by a group of El Segundo residents seeking to overturn the November election of Councilwoman Janice Cruikshank.

Judge Victor E. Chavez agreed that Cruikshank made some technical errors on the papers she filed to run for the office but said there was no evidence those errors had affected the outcome of the election.

Ruling in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Chavez also said that the city, which was named in the suit, had complied with the election laws in accepting Cruikshank’s petition.

The suit alleged that Cruikshank’s election should be nullified because she had wrongly allowed other people to collect some of the signatures on her nominating petition, when election law states that candidates are supposed to do that.

Among those who signed Cruikshank’s nominating petition were several city employees.

Work rules do not allow employees to engage in political activity while on duty and, according to Councilman Scot Dannen, those who signed Cruikshank’s petition have received reprimands.

The suit was brought by longtime city activist Willard E. W. Krick and 13 other residents, who backed Cruikshank’s opponents in the election contest.

“I’m elated to say the least,” Cruikshank said of the judge’s decision.

The councilwoman said that her opponents have been complaining about her petition since last August and that she had been elected in November despite the “harping.”

Cruikshank was elected to serve out the remaining five months of former Councilman Jim Clutter’s four-year term. Cruikshank has said she plans to seek election again in April for a full four-year term.