"Judge Smith's decision in the recount suit vindicates a fundamental right reserved long ago by the People of California to ferret out possible fraud or error in election results," noted counsel for the voters Gregory Luke. ". . . The decision is a firm rebuke to the culture of secrecy that has taken hold in too many election offices around the country."
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
June 12, 2007
Tentative Ruling Finds that County Officials Destroyed Voting Records from Election
Conducted on Diebold Electronic Voting Machines
Election Results May Be Nullified and County Ordered to Conduct Re-Vote on Ballot Measure at Next General Election; Hearing on the Tentative Ruling Tomorrow
OAKLAND, CA - Superior Court Judge Winifred Y. Smith issued a tentative ruling that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters and Alameda County "have engaged in a pattern of withholding relevant evidence and failure to preserve evidence" necessary to conduct a recount of a hotly contested Berkeley ballot measure. As a result, the Court has signaled its intention to void the election and order the County to place Measure R back on the ballot for a re-vote at the next general election.
Judge Smith will issue a final ruling after the Court hears oral arguments tomorrow (Friday, July 13, at 9:30 a.m. at the Wiley Manuel Courthouse, Department 114, 661 Washington Street, Oakland).
"Judge Smith's tentative ruling confirms our contention that Alameda County violated its duty to preserve the critical voting machine data that was the focus of this recount lawsuit and election contest," said Gregory Luke of Strumwasser & Woocher LLP, attorney for the plaintiffs who sought the recount of the vote on Measure R.
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