Judge Halts Absentee Ballot Tally : Election: Allegation of voter fraud by Democrats prompts order. Feinstein-Huffington contest and two other races hang in balance.

In a legal move that postpones a resolution of the close U.S. Senate race and two down-to-the-wire legislative contests, a Pasadena Superior Court judge said he has signed a temporary restraining order halting the counting of Los Angeles County’s absentee ballots.

Judge Coleman A. Swart said Sunday night that he signed the order Saturday after a request from a Glendale Republican activist who claimed Democratic voter fraud in last week’s election. A Superior Court hearing is set for today on the matter, Swart said.

The order affects three races:

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein leads Rep. Mike Huffington by 123,610 votes, with about 500,000 absentee ballots uncounted. Most of those are in Los Angeles County, which Feinstein carried by 11% Tuesday and by a 1% margin of absentee ballots already counted.

In Long Beach, incumbent Democratic Assemblywoman Betty Karnette led Republican Steve Kuykendall by 64 votes. A Republican victory in the race would deadlock the Assembly.

In the 36th Congressional District, Republican Susan Brooks led Democratic incumbent Jane Harman by 93 votes.

Asked about his decision to sign the order, Swart said, “I will not comment on a pending case.”

Republican Allen Brandstater, who said he had worked for Supervisor Mike Antonovich and as a consultant in local races, alleged vote fraud by Democrats in the county.

Antonovich, who last month asked the county registrar to investigate constituents’ allegations of unlawful registration by illegal immigrants, joined Brandstater’s declaration to Swart, according to his chief deputy, Tony Silver. The district attorney’s office began investigating the matter at the request of the County Board of Supervisors.

Brandstater said he had no role in Huffington’s campaign, and a Huffington campaign spokeswoman agreed, and added that the campaign’s attorneys advised her not to comment further.

Feinstein campaign manager Kam Kuwata questioned the allegations and said he believes the action to be a partisan delaying maneuver.

While several news organizations have declared Feinstein the winner, she has not formally declared victory, nor has Huffington conceded.