Debbie Peterson is no stranger to corruption in local government as she was mayor of Grover Beach in San Luis Obispo for two years and wrote a book about it called The Happiest Corruption: Sleaze, Lies, & Suicide in a California Beach Town. But still, she was surprised to learn of the election fraud that occurred in Compton.
“These were people who really don't know how the system works and they don't know that they're probably going to get caught,” she said. “They don't know that these things do get checked. I was just pretty shocked that they tried it.”
Peterson was reacting to the news that four people improperly cast their vote in the Compton City Council election, which led to Isaac Galvan winning the election until Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams ruled on May 27 that Andre Spicer was the true winner.
“The judge made a logical decision in appointing the next highest vote-getter,” she said. “I don't see that as being corrupt in any way.”
As previously reported, the four votes that tipped the scale in Galvan’s favor were found to have been cast by Californians who lived outside of the area.
“It means those voters were very unsophisticated to think they wouldn’t get caught,” she said. “Our city clerks and our county recorders, the ones who take care of the votes, are very careful and they're very sincere. There are lots of checks and balances.”
Galvan, who was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit election fraud last year, secured 855 votes compared to Spicer’s 854 votes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Kansas City was the worst for cheating on votes back in the 1920s but Compton is just about as bad as anything I've seen, but then I haven't seen it all,” she said.
When Peterson campaigned for mayor a second term, she had her own experience with the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), which investigates suspected election violations. Her opponent waited until the 11th hour to spend $7,000 on glossy flyers without reporting it and won by some 300 votes, according to Peterson.
“If he had legally campaigned and declared the money that was coming in and declared the money that had been donated for the flyers, I would have campaigned differently and I probably would have won by one or two votes,” she said.
Although Peterson’s opponent was reported to the FPPP, it didn’t change the outcome of the mayoral election.
“About a year later, which is far too late to make any difference, they fined him $1,100 and said, ‘Don't do it again. Bad boy.’ So, I didn't become mayor. In a sense, that is voter fraud because he deprived me and the voters of a fair opportunity to know what's going on," she said.