Online voting could be forever banned during Los Angeles neighborhood council elections, with the Los Angeles City Council voting to block the recently implemented practice until a report is prepared on the security and effectiveness of the system.
The council also instructed the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment,, which oversees the city’s 96 neighborhood councils, to train staff and create uniform policies across all neighborhood councils to help ensure a “safe environment for voters free of electioneering.”
The two motions, which were both authored by Councilman Paul Krekorian, made reference to the April election held by the Studio City Neighborhood Council, which generated several allegations of electioneering near the polls. It was one of the first neighborhood councils to implement online voting.
Krekorian’s Second Council District in the San Fernando Valley includes Studio City.
“We’ve made some strides, and online voting as a concept certainly is a vehicle by which ideally we would be able to expand participation in our neighborhood council elections, which I think in too many parts of our city, it’s abysmal right now. Participation is abysmal,” Krekorian said. “And so if we can take steps to expand participation that’s a good thing.”
Krekorian said, however, online voting was meant to be a pilot program that can be improved upon. He also said the online voting in Studio City experienced problems including the exposure of voter data online. The online voting motion directs the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment to cease online voting until it completes a report within 30 days with information about the experience, and the City Council takes further action to resume the practice.
The two motions were both approved by votes of 10-0 during a meeting held at Van Nuys City Hall.
After challengers Eric Preven and Patrice Berlin won seats on the Studio City Neighborhood Council in April, the results were overturned by a special panel convened by the Neighborhood Empowerment department following accusations the two had engaged in electioneering near the polls, the Los Angeles Times reported. However, the panel later reversed itself and allowed both to take their seats, but it did give Preven a letter of reprimand.
Preven, a frequent speaker at City Council meetings, had challenged Krekorian for his council seat but lost in the March 2015 election.
According to Krekorian’s motion about online voting, April was the first time the elections included an online voting option and Studio City was among the first participants in the new system. Two neighborhood councils, Glassell Park and Palms, submitted impact statements opposed to the motion, with both reporting that voter participation was greatly increased in their elections due to the online option.
Preven spoke at the meeting against the motion to stop online voting.
“Individual neighborhood councils should be able — it’s like a states’ rights issue — should be able to choose for themselves,” Preven said.
Lisa Sarkin, the former president of the Studio City Neighborhood Council who lost her seat to Preven, also spoke before the council, but in favor of stopping online voting.
“Complete confusion took over at the polling place on April 7 because of the online voting,” Sarkin said. “In particular, people did not receive their codes. I received two active codes. I could have voted twice.”
—City News Service
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