Consultant in Spotlight Over Ballots

As a conservative political consultant, Allen Brandstater has worked anonymously behind the scenes, advising Republicans like Supervisor Mike Antonovich and former Assemblyman Pat Nolan on political strategies.

Even as a radio talk show host in Glendale, he has not had the attention he received since he persuaded a judge Saturday to issue a temporary restraining order that stopped the tally of roughly 120,000 absentee ballots as a way to ferret out suspected voter fraud.

The lines on his office phone buzzed almost every two minutes Monday with calls from the media asking for interviews. In all, he had 27 requests. “Whew! What a busy day,” he said.

Indeed, Brandstater was the man in the spotlight, the self-described “angry white male” who put a one-day halt to a count that could decide the fate of three key races, including the nation’s most expensive battle between U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and challenger Mike Huffington.

“Either voter fraud is a big issue or Allen Brandstater is a lot better looking than I thought,” he joked. “I don’t think it’s the latter.”

But by midafternoon Monday, Brandstater’s “15 minutes of fame” faded after a second judge rejected his request for a preliminary injunction on the ballot count, saying there was not enough evidence of voter fraud.

Brandstater had asked that county Registrar-Recorder Bea Valdez be required to keep track of the envelopes for each absentee ballot so that the votes can be rejected if the voters who signed the envelopes are later found to be illegally registered.

Although Brandstater said his efforts were not affiliated with any candidate or party, his lawyer, Stephen Fleishman, said that associates of the Huffington campaign were among those who had asked Brandstater to challenge the ballots.

Fleishman also works for a firm that serves as Huffington’s campaign treasurer. And Huffington’s father, Roy, was present Saturday when a judge issued the temporary restraining order.

Brandstater concedes that the Huffington campaign supports his effort but said he launched his battle against voter fraud independently.

“I did not engage in this as a Republican,” he said. “I’m just angry with all the evidence of voter fraud that no one is doing anything about.”

It was through his radio show on KIEV 870 AM that he began to hear of voter fraud in Glendale, making him suspect wrongdoing.

Brandstater won the first round of his battle when Superior Court Judge Coleman Swart issued a temporary restraining order Saturday night, instructing Valdez to keep track of the envelopes. Valdez stopped the count, saying a system to track the envelopes would be too complicated.

But after a hearing Monday, Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien reversed the decision.