Council member in California city of Compton charged in connection with election rigging, bribery

A council member in the California city of Compton has reportedly been charged in connection with conspiring to rig votes in an election he narrowly won earlier this year.

The City Council member, Isaac Galvan, is one of six people charged with conspiracy to commit election fraud, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

The 34-year-old Galvan was arrested and charged Friday, according to The Los Angeles Times. He reportedly won his reelection by just one ballot. 

Prosecutors allege Galvan conspired with Jace Dawson, a challenger in an April primary, to direct voters from outside their district to cast ballots for Galvan in a June runoff, the complaint states.

At least three improper ballots, which decided the outcome of the runoff, were counted, according to the complaint. 

Prosecutors also charged Dawson, Kimberly Chaouch, Toni Sanae Morris, Barry Kirk Reed and Reginald Orlando Streeter with two counts each of conspiracy to commit election fraud. Chaouch, Morris, Reed and Streeter all voted in the primary or runoff for the Compton City Council’s second district, despite not living there, The Times also reports.

Galvan and Dawson have pleaded not guilty, ahead of a scheduled Sept. 17 hearing. The other four defendants were not arrested, and as of Friday had yet to appear in court.

Galvan is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit election fraud and one count of bribery. He attempted to “fraudulently influence the results of the election” when he tried to bribe an employee of the registrar’s office with concert tickets, according to the complaint obtained by The Times. 

Both the employee whom Galvan allegedly tried to bribe and an election observer immediately reported the incident, a top election official said.