LA-area city council election results OVERTURNED after voter fraud scandal

A Compton city council election was overturned after a judge ruled that the incumbent councilman rigged votes in order to secure his victory. 

Councilman Isaac Galvan is set to be replaced by his challenger Andre Spicer after Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams Court determined last Friday that four of the votes cast for Galvan in a June 2021 runoff election were submitted by people who did not live in the council district. 

The judge ruled that his challenger Spicer was the true winner, garnering 854 votes to Galvan’s 851. 

Councilman Isaac Galvan is set to be replaced by his challenger Andre Spicer

A judge ruled that Galvan’s challenger, Andre Spicer (pictured) was the true winner, garnering 854 to Galvan’s 851

Spicer, who has contested the elections results for the last year after he lost to Galvan but just a single vote, told NBC LA that he is ‘elated’ by the ruling.  

‘I’m grateful to the judicial system,’ he said. ‘This is something we’ve been fighting hard for -for the last 11 months.’ 

It is not clear how soon after the decision Spicer will be taking office. 

This comes after the LA County District Attorney’s Office charged Galvan and five other with conspiracy to commit election fraud last August- with four of the others accused of registering and casting votes in Compton, despite living outside the district. 

Prosecutors also charged Galvan with bribery with the intent to influence an election for allegedly trying to bribe an LA Country registrar employee counting the ballots on election night. 

Superior Court Judge Michelle Williams Court (pictured) determined that four votes cast for Galvan were submitted by people who did not live in the district

Galvan has pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy and bribery charges as he awaits trial

Galvan has pleaded not guilty to the charges as he awaits trial. 

Galvan has been embroiled in several controversies since he first took office in 2013. 

In November 2020 federal investigators searched Galvan’s home as part of an investigation into marijuana licensing practices in Baldwin Park and in 2021 he as subpoenaed to testify in a bribery and corruption case against Mayor Ramon Medina, the Los Angles Times reported. 

Just last week one of his aides, Davis Blake Jr. was arrested in connection to a murder, the Times reported.