Lynwood election takeover advances
The state Legislature voted Friday to have Los Angeles County election officials take over the recall election targeting four City Council members in Lynwood.
The unanimous vote by the Senate and Assembly comes on the heels of a Superior Court judge’s ruling that the election will take place Sept. 25. The unusual step was taken because the Lynwood City Council had resisted allowing the recall election to go forward.
Lynwood’s elected city clerk, Andrea Hooper, was stripped of her election duties after she tried to certify the recall petitions. Hooper gave the petitions to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which rejected the City Council’s request that they be turned over to its handpicked election official.
The county registrar-recorder set a date for the election, but the council members defied it.
Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) said the Legislature’s action was modeled after the election takeover bill in 2002 that forced the then-out-of-control city of South Gate to hand over control of its recall elections to the county.
“There’s a pattern here of interfering in the electoral process that is not an elected body’s role,” De La Torre said. “It’s absolutely important to have a transparent electoral process.”
The legislative bill is expected to be signed by the governor next week, giving the registrar-recorder authority over Lynwood’s recall election.
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