Merced County District Attorney, state investigating Livingston voter fraud allegations
The Merced County District Attorney’s Office and California Secretary of State have launched an investigation into allegations of voter fraud in the City of Livingston.
The investigation is the latest development in a city that’s already been under public scrutiny after the arrest of two police officers this year. Plus, residents recently were outraged after a longtime city manger was abruptly dismissed.
The voter fraud allegations were made public on Aug. 22 via a YouTube video by Livingston City Councilman Jose Moran.
In the video, Moran accuses Livingston City Councilmember Gagandeep Kang and his brother, Livingston Police Sgt. Wapinder Kang, of encouraging him to run for city clerk during the November 2020 election — with the promise of 1,200 votes in his favor already guaranteed.
The alleged incident took place during a June 2020 conversation that Councilman Kang was also present for, Moran says.
At the time Moran was allegedly approached by the Kang brothers, he had not been a member of the City Council. Sgt. Kang offered him the proposal to run for city clerk because the brothers wanted him to be on their “team” in directing city affairs, Moran says.
Moran alleged the brothers told him they were trying to change some of the people who held key city staff and elected positions, in order to get more people on their team.
Moran told the Sun-Star that he believes former city manager Jose Ramirez is one of the individuals that the Kangs wanted out of City Hall, along with several other department heads.
“Elections are coming up, and we’re working on our team,” Moran alleges Sgt. Kang said to him.
“You don’t have to do anything. We can do all the canvassing, we can do all the voting for you, we can do all the marketing. We can do everything. We just need you to sign and run for city clerk. Actually, we already have 1,200 votes,” Moran also accused Sgt. Kang of saying.
Neither of the Kang brothers have been charged with a crime related to Moran’s allegations.
Councilmember Kang did not return requests by the Sun-Star for comment. Sgt. Kang referred the Sun-Star to his attorney, Roger Wilson, but he could not be reached for comment.
Moran said he reported the alleged incident to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office several months ago.
Registrar of Voters Darlene Ingersoll told the Sun-Star that her office also referred allegations of potential voter fraud in Livingston to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office and notified the Secretary of State.
District Attorney’s investigation
Merced County Chief Investigator Bill Olson confirmed that the district attorney’s office had received information about the potential voting fraud in Livingston and forwarded it to the Secretary of State.
The district attorney’s office initially caught wind of the voting misconduct allegations in October when the agency was notified of ballot harvesting, which is controversial but not illegal, Investigator Bimley West said.
Voter harvesting is when individuals or groups collect completed ballots and deliver them to authorized polling places or elections locations.
But as more individuals came forward, it became clear that the alleged misconduct escalated beyond ballot harvesting to the point of possible violation of the California’s elections laws, West said.
The district attorney’s office has not named specific suspects — or confirmed whether the Kang brothers are the focus of their investigation.
Officials did say more than one person are believed to be involved.
“Citizens within the City of Livingston have reported that there are individuals (suspects) who convinced, coerced or intimidated local citizens in Livingston to surrender their unmarked ballots to them before the November 3, 2020 election,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
According to the district attorney’s office, the unnamed suspects directed Livingston citizens to sign their ballot envelopes and surrender them unsealed.
The suspects then completed the ballots themselves by selecting candidates of their choice and submitted the ballots in the envelopes to the Merced County Registrar of Voters, according to the district attorney’s office.
The district attorney’s office has said breaking the state laws with regard to corruption of the voting process can constitute a felony punishable by imprisonment of up to three years in state prison.
Several elected positions with the City of Livingston were on the November 2020 ballot.
The election resulted in a new mayor, Juan Aguilar, taking the city’s reins from former mayor Gurpal Samra. Moran was elected to his first term as a City Council member, while incumbent Maria Baptista-Soto was reelected.
A city clerk position, the role of city treasurer and Livingston Union Elementary School District Area 5 were also on the ballot.
Asking citizens to step forward
The ongoing investigation by the district attorney’s office is attempting to verify whether any fraudulent votes impacted the City of Livingston’s election results.
West said several individuals — in addition to Moran — have spoken with the district attorney’s office.
Still, West said the investigation requires more residents with any information to come forward. Individuals may come forward anonymously.
“We’re asking the citizens of Livingston to value the election process, and to help us stop this violation of their rights that’s going on right now,” West said. “We just want the truth of the matter.”
Merced County District Attorney Investigators ask that anyone who wasconvinced to participate in voter fraud during the 2020 elections or during any of the recent City of Livingston elections call the district attorney’s office at (209) 385-7381 and ask to speak with investigators West or Olson.
“When it comes to voting, that should be an individual, a personal, a private thing and no one should be taken advantage of,” West said.
Feeling compelled to step forward
The accusations of voter fraud come to light in the midst of ongoing discord in Livingston.
Sgt. Kang was recently placed on leave due to his alleged involvement in filing a false police report in order to cover for another law enforcement officer.
His brother, Councilman Kang, is subject to an ongoing recall effort to remove four of the five-member City Council.
Plus, multiple protests recently erupted at City Hall due to the termination of the former City Manager without explanation — a move that drew anger and suspicion from some residents.
Moran and other Livingston residents have alleged that the series of incidents are connected to an overarching issue of corruption at City Hall.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg, and once you look under the water level you can see how large it is,” Moran told the Sun-Star.
He said that he plans to release at least two other videos discussing other incidents.
Moran told the Sun-Star that he wasn’t interested in running for City Council until after the alleged incident last year, which left him shocked and wanting to make a difference.
“Thanks to the Kang brothers, I decided to run,” Moran said. He was elected to City Council during the November 2020 election.
Moran said he weighed whether to publicly disclose his concerns for several months before releasing the YouTube videos.
“I think it’s only fair for people to know what’s really going on,” he said.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 12:58 PM.
