ho hum, another stolen election

Judge Upholds S.D. Mayoral Election
Feb. 3, 2005
By Richard Marosi, Times Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO — A judge on Wednesday upheld the November election victory of Mayor Dick Murphy, rejecting 5,551 votes for write-in candidate Councilwoman Donna Frye because people did not fill in the oval next to her name as required by state law.

"I find that [the] election code … should be given its plain meaning…. That to cast a vote you have to fill in the oval," said Superior Court Judge H. Michael Brenner from Orange County. "Those votes should not be counted. The challenge fails."
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If the ruling stands, it would end the quixotic, last-minute write-in candidacy of Frye, a surf shop owner whose maverick style and "surfer chick" status attracted national attention. Murphy, a Republican former judge, was favored by business interests, while Frye gained support from environmentalists and unions.

Fredric Woocher, the attorney for Frye supporters who filed the lawsuit, said he would recommend an appeal.

"There's too much at stake in terms of people's rights to leave it up to one judge," Woocher said.

The ruling came immediately after closing arguments in the three-day trial, in which lawyers and witnesses spent hours examining marked-up, crossed-out and incomplete ballots cast for Murphy and Frye by voters who didn't follow instructions.
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Frye supporters charged that the county registrar of voters, Sally McPherson, had treated Frye voters according to different standards in evaluating their intent.
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In his ruling, the judge said the intent of write-in voters for Frye was clear but concluded that the rules were meant to be followed. State law requires that voters for a write-in candidate not only fill in the name but darken the oval. Filling in the ovals, the judge said, "requires a small burden on voters."
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