S.F. candidates seek monitors over absentee issue (mayor Ed Lee allegedly filled out ballots)

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

(10-24) 10:34 PDT San Francisco -- Seven candidates for mayor in San Francisco called Sunday for state and federal monitors to oversee voting in the contest after witnesses said supporters of Mayor Ed Lee had filled out absentee ballots for voters.

"We believe federal observers and election monitors are immediately warranted, and that further investigation by your respective offices would be well advised," the candidates wrote in a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and to California Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

Those calling for the monitors were City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, state Sen. Leland Yee, Supervisor John Avalos, former Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier and venture capitalist Joanna Rees.

The request - an effort which could chip away at the front-runner in the Nov. 8 election - came after two witnesses told The Chronicle they had observed workers at a makeshift voting station on a Chinatown sidewalk on Friday filling in absentee ballots for voters.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/24/BAMD1LLD04.DTL

[SoapBox]

1. Uhhhh....the charges are pretty darned vague!

"came after two witnesses told The Chronicle they had observed workers at a makeshift voting station on a Chinatown sidewalk on Friday filling in absentee ballots for voters."

Okkkk.

"two witnesses"
"makeshift voting station"
"filling in absentee ballots"

There is a whole lot of vague in these charges. The part that gets me is the "filling in absentee ballots"...How many people, were going to be flooding to the "makeshift voting station" to get someone to fill out their ABSENTEE ballot for them?

Sounds like the whole thing is as phony as the GOPBaggers yelling about voter "fraud".

[EFerrari]

2. Not at all. Witnesses saw campaign workers filling out ballots

which is illegal. I hope Ed Lee gets slammed.

[EC]

3. In China town?

I'm guessing interpretors. Really sounds flimsy.

[EFerrari]

4. Maybe but the ballots are printed in multiple languages including Mandarin

iirc.

[No Elephants]

5. A different view says Republican operatives are trying to discredit the Mayor.

http://www.truth-out.org/republican-operatives-behind-afscme-attacks-ed-lee/1319400889

I have no idea where the truth lies.

Another case where we should wait for more facts to develop?