Friday, Jan 7, 2005
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO - Three voters asked a court Thursday to overturn the election of San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy and install a write-in candidate, contending that more than 5,000 ballots were unfairly thrown out.
The voters filed a lawsuit alleging the county registrar violated state election law by disqualifying ballots on which voters wrote the name of write-in candidate Donna Frye but failed to darken an adjoining oval.
If those ballots had been counted, Frye would have won the Nov. 2 election, the suit claimed.
Bob Ottilie, an attorney for Murphy, said the complaint had no merit and urged Frye to tell the plaintiffs to drop what could become a long, expensive court battle.
"The people of San Diego must be extremely frustrated," he said. "Dick Murphy is providing strong leadership at City Hall. Who is going to provide the leadership to end these lawsuits? This is going to go on forever."
Frye told reporters Thursday night she believes "every single vote cast in this election should be counted."
"Who outside of San Diego politics thinks that these votes should not be counted?" she asked. "It's not a political question and it shouldn't be even a legal question. It's about what's right and what's wrong."
Marco Gonzalez, an attorney for the Frye campaign, said Frye will not file her own complaint because she wants to focus on her council work.
"She believes there was an injustice, but she has to pay for anything she initiates," Gonzalez said. "That takes away from time on the City Council."
It was the second lawsuit filed in eight days seeking to unseat Murphy, who began his second term last month.
In a complaint filed Dec. 30, two Frye voters argued that city law, which does not require the ovals to be filled, trumps state law that does.
The latest lawsuit claimed the registrar erred by counting what could amount to thousands of ballots for Murphy and third-place finisher Ron Roberts on which voters filled the bubbles only partially.
Fred Woocher, the attorney who filed the latest suit, expected the two complaints to be combined.
Woocher, along with several news organizations, sponsored a tally last month that showed 5,547 Frye voters neglected to darken the ovals — enough to overcome Murphy's 2,108-vote margin of victory.
Back to Recount on the Web site Border States of America.