Accused Judge’s Withdrawal Opposed

The leading write-in candidate in the race to unseat an Orange County judge charged with child molestation and possessing child pornography said he opposes the jurist’s efforts to withdraw from the race.

With nearly half the write-in ballots counted as of late Wednesday, Dana Point attorney John Adams had garnered 55%, Orange County Registrar of Voters Rosalyn A. Lever said. Should that trend continue, Adams will oppose Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Kline in a November runoff.

Kline’s lawyers today are expected to ask a Superior Court judge to take the unusual step of allowing Kline to bow out of the race, nine days after he won a meager 33% of votes in the primary election despite being the only name on the ballot.

Adams said Wednesday he is prepared--if allowed--to argue in court against Kline’s attempts to withdraw.

If Kline fails in his attempt to drop out of the election, his name will appear on the ballot along with the top vote-getter among write-in candidates.

But if Kline succeeds, Adams would face the next highest vote-getter among the write-in candidates, election officials said.

But county election officials and legal experts said Kline’s request has little chance of succeeding. Election law bars candidates from withdrawing their names unless they are appointed to another office or die well before the election.

“I think it would be quite an uphill battle,” said Frederic Woocher, a Santa Monica attorney who specializes in election issues.

“The laws are pretty clear that you cannot withdraw at this time.... He’d have to prove that he died.”

Despite the legal hurdles, some of Kline’s other opponents announced unwavering support for the judge’s effort to end his reelection bid.

“It’s a miracle. That’s what I had hoped for all along. That’s why I started all this in the first place,” said Gay Sandoval, a Costa Mesa lawyer who launched the first write-in effort against Kline.

On the first floor of the registrar’s Santa Ana offices, four dozen election volunteers are working to determine the write-in leader. Earning only $50 a day, the volunteers are laboring over more than 230,000 ballots cast for write-in candidates.

The work is tedious. The counters, many of them retirees and homemakers, complain of numerous paper cuts suffered in the name of democracy. But morale remains high.

“This here election is real history, let me tell you,” said Joe Folske, 76, who said he has worked in every county election since 1956.

County election officials Wednesday released the first results of the massive hand count of write-in ballots. With nearly half of the votes tallied, Adams has established a clear lead over rivals with 55%. Sandoval was in second place, with 17%, and Costa Mesa Councilwoman Karen Robinson was third, with 8%.

Election officials said the hand count could be completed as early as next week.

At the registrar’s office, Adams was overjoyed by news of his early lead. He acknowledged that if he remains first when all votes are counted, he will stand a better chance in November’s election if his opponent is Kline rather than another write-in candidate.

But Adams said he also opposes on moral and legal grounds any attempt by the judge to withdraw.

“It seems like Kline is asking the judge to circumvent the law, and that is the last thing I want to be promoting,” Adams said.