Johnson posted on Facebook and accused Jennifer Hong of ballot harvesting, candidate Chuong Vo followed the post and slammed the Hong, then later admitted he “did not witness the incident.”
BY BRIAN HEWS
Cerritos resident and Supervisor Janice Hahn Field Representative Lynda Johnson has always held herself out as a Democrat, but it is evident, even though she works for a Hahn, she is working hard to get a conservative Republican elected to the Cerritos City Council, going so far as accusing another candidate in a Facebook post of election fraud.
The incident involved one Cerritos resident handing sealed ballots to Jennifer Hong at the February 12 forum, with Johnson accusing the Hong, who was clearly surprised by the move, of “ballot harvesting.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote in 2018, “ballot harvesting is political jargon for a practice in which organized workers or volunteers collect absentee ballots from certain voters and drop them off.”
It was coined by California Republicans in 2016, with the term carrying a negative connotation to suggest improprieties and election fraud.
It is legal, but you wouldn’t know it talking to Johnson or candidate Chuong Vo.
Gov. Brown signed into law in 2016 a change to the election code that allows any person to collect mail-in ballots from voters and turn in the ballot.
While critics decry it, proponents of the change say it allows more eligible citizens to participate in elections across California.
Many Republicans who lost in 2016 and 2018 accused Democrats of election fraud using ballot harvesting.
In her post, which was one day after the forum, Johnson used the Republican moniker writing, “BALLOT HARVESTING, Chuong Vo addressed it in his closing remarks… one candidate witnessed another candidate receiving a stack of ballots from someone in the audience, no one should give ballots to any candidate.”
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JOHNSON ACCUSING candidate Hong of ballot harvesting, alleging election fraud in her Facebook post that generated several negative comments.
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The “stack” Johnson was referring to was only two ballots high.
Vo jumped in on the post and also accused the candidate of cheating, even though it is legal for a candidate, or anyone for that matter, to take sealed ballots from others and deliver to City Hall.
Worse, Vo, who is a Torrance police officer, and Johnson alleged the candidate took blank ballots – and insinuated that Hong who would later fraudulently pick herself as a candidate, and then sign the ballots.
That is a felony.
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THE POST BY VO, who insinuated that Hong who would later fraudulently pick herself as a candidate, and then sign the ballots.
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The post generated several comments from residents, including accusations of criminal activity by the candidate.
At the end of the forum, Vo “addressed” the issue during candidate comments, once again accusing the Hong of ballot harvesting.
But, shockingly, Vo would later admit in Johnson’s day-later Facebook post that he did not see the ballots handed to the Hong.
“Unfortunately I was not the one that witnessed it [the ballot harvesting]. I came about 30 seconds late.”
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VO POST indicating he did not see the ballots given to Hong, even though Vo slammed Hong the night before at the end of the candidates forum/
Hong told HMG-LCCN, “From day one, we’ve run a clean positive campaign. It is unfortunate that other candidates are attacking their opponents with inaccurate information and false & demeaning accusations. I believe Cerritos residents need a candidate with the highest integrity, complete honesty, and unparalleled ethics in order to represent Cerritos City as a Council Member.”
It is a disturbing pattern by Vo: in the 2016 City Council race, he falsely claimed local elected officials endorsed his campaign, which were taken down after an HMG-LCCN article; he also falsely claimed that HMG-LCCN refused advertising from him, which he was later forced to retract after HMG LCCN produced emails that showed he was lying.
