March 28, 2007

Appeal expected in Orange County recount case

"A judge ruled Monday that Janet Nguyen won the February election for an Orange County Board of Supervisors seat by a slim three-vote margin, rejecting arguments by her opponent that a recount wasn't completed because the paper audit of electronically cast ballots was not counted manually.

"All the votes were counted," said Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner. "There was a full and legal recount."

Brenner also ruled that state law allows the person seeking and paying for the recount to choose the method by which votes are counted.

It was, he said, "perfectly reasonable" for Janet Nguyen to ask for about 35,000 paper absentee ballots to be checked by hand to contest ones that weren't filled out properly and then ask to have about 10,000 electronic votes recounted the way they were on election night — by machine.

"The evidence in this case found no complaints about the [performance of election] machines," Brenner said, adding that recounting the paper audit "probably wouldn't show a great deal anyway."

His decision capped a contentious four-day trial sought by Trung Nguyen, whose initial lead in the 1st District race was overturned by the recount.

Janet Nguyen is expected to be sworn in today by supervisors, who had voted this month to let a court sort out the legal issues involved in the case. The clerk of the board was in the courtroom Monday to hand the winner a stack of documents outlining issues on today's meeting agenda.

"I'm ready. I've been ready," Janet Nguyen said after the hearing. "I respect the system, I respect the process, and I'm very excited by the ruling…. This election separated all of us. My goal now is to … unify everybody."

Trung Nguyen, who is not related to the winner, declined to comment and left the courthouse as his attorney, Michael Schroeder, said an appeal was likely. "Why would you have a paper record if you don't count it?" Schroeder said. "I believe the law is crystal clear."

Posted by Randy Riddle at March 28, 2007 09:34 AM