Compton City Councilman Isaac Galvan and five additional individuals were charged on Friday with election fraud, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
“Galvan and former Compton City Council candidate Jace Dawson, both 34, were charged with working together to help Galvan retain his District 2 seat,” CBS Los Angeles reported.
Four other people were also charged regarding the case, including 34-year-old Toni Morris, 48-year-old Kimberly Chaouch, 61-year-old Barry Reed, and 51-year-old Reginald Streeter.
Each of them were allegedly registered to vote at Dawson’s address located in Compton although they did not live at the address.
“All four are charged with voting illegally in the election,” the outlet said, adding Galvan recently won a close election over his opponent Andre Spicer, 855 to 854.
Galvan was also accused of trying to bribe a registrar worker while she counted ballots on election night, the district attorney’s office noted.
“Elections are the cornerstone of our democratic nation. We must do everything in our power to protect the integrity of the electorate process and to ensure that elections are free and fair,” Gascón said in a statement. “The people of Los Angeles County expect and deserve a government that is free of political corruption at every level.”
According to his profile on the City of Compton website, Galvan was “young, energetic, and dedicated to making government work for working families.”
“The lack of resources and effective leadership in his community was apparent to Councilman Galvan at an early age. Raised by a single mother, Isaac saw how easily young people could be caught up in a life on the streets and how few options they had.”
According to the CBS report, both Galvan and Dawson pleaded not guilty regarding the charges and were scheduled to appear in court on September 17.
The four remaining defendants will be arraigned at a later time, the District Attorney’s Office said.