An internal investigation by Pierce College found the school’s Student Trustee election was in violation of a board rule governing voting hours, while a separate investigation by the L.A. Community College District found the district may have counted multiple votes by more than one student.
An in-house report by Earic Dixon-Peters, Pierce vice president of student services, found the college violated LACCD Board rule 21000 during its Student Trustee election polling procedure.
Polls were supposed to be open for eight hours per day to allow access for both day and evening students to vote, according to the rule. Pierce’s polls were open six hours per day, according to the report.
President Kathleen Burke recommended in a memo to Bobbi Kimble, interim LACCD vice chancellor of educational programs and institutional effectiveness, that the district’s Election Committee review the investigation results, and that student trustee elections in the future be conducted electrically, pending student identification.
The district’s Internal Audit Department concluded there was a “factual indication” that six LACCD students voted more than once during the election, according to a memo sent from IAD Director Arnold Blanshard to Kimble.
The Student Trustee Elections Committee will review these findings and make a recommendation to LACCD Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez, according to an email from Lucia Robles, interim dean of educational support services.
The committee will meet Friday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to noon in the board room of the district office at 770 Wilshire Blvd. in Downtown L.A.
