Mark Jacoby, head of the firm Young Political Majors that has been implicated in the growing scandal over Republican fraud in voter registrations. The Secretary of State's Election Fraud Investigation Unit led the inquiry that resulted in the arrest and had this to say in an emailed press release:
The owner of a signature-gathering firm that works across California was arrested in Ontario today on suspicion of committing voter registration fraud, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced.
Mark Anthony Jacoby, who owns the firm known as Young Political Majors (YPM), was arrested after allegedly registering himself to vote, once in 2006 and again in 2007, at an address where did not live. An investigation by the Secretary of State's Election Fraud Investigation Unit revealed that Jacoby twice registered to vote at the address of a childhood home in Los Angeles although he no longer lived there....
"Voter registration fraud is a serious issue, which is why I vigorously investigate all allegations of elections fraud," said Secretary Bowen, California's chief elections officer. "Where there's a case to be made, I will forward it to law enforcement for criminal prosecution."
This arrest comes on the heels of recent media coverage of YPM's fraudulent tactics sometimes known as "slamming" - where voters are duped into changing their party registrations, or where their registration is simply changed by YPM without the voter's knowledge:
The Times randomly interviewed 46 of the hundreds of voters whose election records show they were recently re-registered as Republicans by YPM, and 37 of them -- more than 80% -- said that they were misled into making the change or that it was done without their knowledge.
Jacoby's arrest does not stem from those specific charges, which are still under investigation, but the fact that Jacoby himself was fraudulently registered is damning.
It should also lead us to ask why Steve Poizner is funding YPM's efforts.
But then that's the modern Republican Party for you - making baseless charges against someone else (i.e. ACORN) to hide their own criminal behavior.
Anyone who hangs around on Facebook even a little has seen that Secretary of State Debra Bowen makes great use of it.
Late this (5/7/8) evening, she posted a "note": Facebook tip leads to conviction for voter registration fraud. Secretary of State Debra Bowen Announces
Conviction for Voter Registration Fraud in Orange County (warning pdf) The link is from the Secretary of State's website, since you have to be logged into Facebook to see the note.
It's basically a press release detailing a case tried in Orange County Superior Court. Sacramento based Don Cornell Williams plead guilty to registering 3 ineligible voters in 2006. A warrant for his arrest was issued in 2006 but he wasn't arrested until this year.
Apparently a complaint was filed against his signature gathering techniques this year. Which lead to his arrest on the outstanding warrant.
The press release does not mention where the tip came from. But since Bowen's note says "Facebook tip leads to conviction" I think we can all infer where.
Social networking taken to a whole new level.
This was a significant week in Bill Richardson's campaign for President, with a major address on climate change and how to end the bloodshed in Iraq.
It was also a significant week for peace and stability in Korea and Asia - which highlights Richardson's expertise in foreign affairs and his diplomatic skills. With Richardson as President we get two for the price of one - a can-do leader on domestic issues and an experienced diplomat that knows how to bring people and nations together.
(Just 588 days until Janet's next election, when a Democrat will take back the (non-partisan) seat.- Brian
OK, here's what everyone else is saying... Ryan Gene has a lot so say about Janet and her new job at Orange Juice. And Total Buzz has more on Janet and the GOPers who may want to be her friends again. Stay tuned for more! : ) - promoted by atdleft)
Today, something happened. What we've all been waiting for finally happened. Janet Nguyen was FINALLY sworn in as County Supervisor. THANK GAWD I FINALLY HAVE A SUPERVISOR!! But how long will this last? Will she really be able to follow through on her promise to "unite the district" and "represent everyone"?
- And WHO'S with Woocher? Apparently, the Garden Grove voter who "hired" Woocher is none other than Gerald Feather. But WHO is this Gerald Feather? Jubal at OC Blog is suggesting that Mr. Feather is awfully too close to Janet Nguyen to be "doing it himself". However, Feather denies any connection to Janet's campaign.
- So what are the unions doing? Peggy Lowe wanted to know, so she called the head of the county employees union. His answer? "We won't confirm anything that's in the legal arena." And as for the deputy sheriffs' union? "It's not AOCDS [the union]." So are the unions involved? Well, why would they when their candidate (Tom Umberg) is languishing in third place?
Phil Greer, an attorney representing Janet Nguyen's campaign, formally requested a recount this morning for the Feb. 6 special election for county supervisor. Which ballots the campaign will ask to be counted first is still being decided on by Janet's team, according to Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley.
Oh yes, and the recount could begin as early as this Thursday. Now will all thoseabsenteeballots be able to withstand all this extra scrutiny...
Or does Van Tran have something else in mind?
So you thought that the aftermath from last week's special election could not possibly get any more horrendous? Well, think again! My friend Claudio Gallegos at Orange Juice has now dug up yet ANOTHER ACCUSATION that, if proven true, could be enough to deny Trung Nguyen a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors:
There are accusations of Trung Nguyen's people collecting absentee ballots and delivering them to the ROV [Registrar of Voters]. This accusation gains credibility from the fact that Van Tran's Assembly campaign once got caught doing the same thing during the 2004 primary. Then there is an accusation that Trung Nguyen's people were going to the Vietnamese community in Cerritos and registering people there into addresses in Westminster or Garden Grove. Whether these accusations are true, only an investigation will tell. But if this took place, it clearly would swing the race in Janet's favor.
It was bad enough when I heard about Team Tran/Trung handing out ABSENTEE BALLOTS...
And then, I thought it couldn't get worse when I heard about the dead people "voting"...
And now, this??!!
For the sake of democracy in Orange County, ALL OF THIS needs to be investigated! If Van Tran and his protege Trung Nguyen really did all of this, then Trung shouldn't be headed to the County Administration Building...
He and Van should then be taken TO JAIL!
So this is it. Today is the big day! ELECTION DAY IS HERE!
So for today's look into the wild and wonderful politics of Orange County, I'd like to give you one last look as to what's happening with the First Supervisorial District Special Election:
- If you thought it couldn't get any worse for Trung Nguyen when you found out about his fun with Photoshop, then YOU'RE WRONG!! Claudio Gallegos, of Orange Juice, has heard from a friend who has this to say about his recent encounter with Trung Nguyen "supporters":
While taking out my garbage about a week and a half ago, I was approached by three Vietnamese men who spoke to me in Vietnamese. In their hands were absentee ballots, not requests, but ballots. They tried to hand one off to me and asked me to fill in the bubble for Trung Nguyen sign the envelope and they would take care of the rest. I told them no I am not supporting Trung, and added that what they were doing was wrong and illegal. They insisted they were doing nothing wrong and were trying to help the Vietnamese community and that Trung Nguyen was the only one who cared about the Vietnamese community. I told them again I am not supporting Trung Nguyen and what they were doing was illegal. They moved on to the next home. I noticed they were at my mobile home park everyday, same three men with stacks of absentee ballots.
I informed Vietnamese radio about what was going on. They did a report on it. It was also reported to the DA's office. I believe the District Attorney is investigating. I do hope they find wrongdoing.
OH... MY... F***ING... GAWD!! This is, like, SO ILLEGAL...
But don't bet on anything coming out of the investigation: Tony Rackauckas and his "sugar daddy"supporter Mike Schroeder are behind none other than Trung Nguyen. But still, it can't help Trung as he tries to salvage whatever credibility he had left.
- The OC Democratic Party is robocalling, and The Liberal OC is here to tell us all about it! State Controller John Chiang called the other day in English to urge Democrats to vote for Tom Umberg, and now Assemblymember Jose Solorio is making calls in Spanish urging Democrats to vote for Umberg.
So you think all of this is wild and crazy? Well, follow me after the flip for the grand finale...
