Precinct Walker Charged With Election Fraud

A Rosamond woman was charged Friday with felony election fraud by prosecutors who said she applied for absentee ballots on behalf of voters who did not request them, including Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi and his wife.

The charges were brought against Tanya Teresa Linear, 32, who was hired as a precinct walker before the June primary by an organizer for state Sen. David Roberti (D-Van Nuys), the county district attorney’s office reported. Prosecutors emphasized that Roberti’s office was not under suspicion of breaking any laws.

Typically, campaigns hire such workers to go door to door, offering to apply for absentee ballots on behalf of those who support the candidate the precinct walkers represent. The campaign employees can fill out the applications, but the voters have to sign the forms.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Straughn said investigators think that Linear may have simply pulled names off the precinct list and signed the applications herself, which is forgery under the state Elections Code.

Linear earned $1,290 for the month and received a $50 bonus, ostensibly for good attendance, Straughn said.

Because the 50 or so workers hired by Sacramento organizer Jim Alford were supposedly paid by the month, not for each absentee ballot application they obtained, Straughn said she was uncertain of Linear’s motives.

“They did get bonuses, but we haven’t really determined what the bonuses were for--just attendance or number of applications,” Straughn said.

Linear pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of fraud involving the Bernardis and a third voter, Mary Cole of Van Nuys. Linear was released without bail and is scheduled to have a hearing Oct. 28. If found guilty, she would face a maximum three-year prison term and a $1,000 fine.

The investigation that led to Linear was requested by Bernardi. He said that in June, when he and his wife Lucille arrived at their polling place on Sherman Way in Van Nuys, they were told that they were ineligible because they had an absentee ballot.

“I was really flabbergasted that I was going to be denied the right to vote,” he said Friday. He received an absentee ballot in the mail, he said, but presumed it was a clerical error and ignored it.

When he told poll workers he had not applied for such a ballot, they replied that they had “three or four similar” cases, Bernardi said.

The Bernardis ultimately were allowed to vote with provisional ballots when they insisted that they had not voted by mail.

With voter turnout often as low as 20% in local primaries, Bernardi pointed out that “the odds are four to one that a person can get away with this kind of fraud.”

“How much of this is going on?” he asked. “No one knows.”

Based on a review of applications filed with the county registrar-recorder’s office, Straughn said she believes that Linear may have fraudulently applied for more than the three ballots, although she would not specify how many more.

“These are the three we feel we have the strongest evidence on,” she said.

A news release from the district attorney’s office emphasized that Roberti’s office was not responsible for the alleged fraud and had cooperated fully with the investigation. In fact, Straughn said, Roberti himself was defrauded because he paid for applications that were invalid.

Roberti’s press secretary, Steven Glazer, said the senator was pleased that a suspect had been arrested and hoped that it would send a strong message to other campaign workers.

“Our view is that voter fraud will not be tolerated,” Glazer said. “We were happy to cooperate in the investigation. . . . We have nothing to hide.”