LCA secretary alleges election fraud; membership adjourns pending ElectionBuddy audit

John Segalla, the association secretary, told members the LCA has detected irregularities in this year's electronic election and has begun a verification process with election vendor ElectionBuddy.

"So far, we have proven 3 clear cases of election fraud where someone submitted fake emails on someone else's TMK," Segalla said, describing what he called verified incidents and saying the extent of the problem was not yet known. He said the election produced an abrupt jump in voting participation compared with recent cycles'from roughly 234 TMKs in previous contests to a reported 428.714 TMKs in the most recent count'and that the association is investigating that spike with ElectionBuddy and its own records.

Segalla said the association received the raw results only the day before the meeting and that the board has opened an election verification and audit process expected to take up to two weeks, though the timeline could extend. "We're going to be in touch with ElectionBuddy," he told attendees, and the board said it will provide members updates as the vendor produces details on source emails and ballots.

Because certification was delayed, the chair moved to adjourn the members' portion of the meeting until the audit is completed. The motion to adjourn passed on a voice vote after a call for a second; members responded "Aye." The board said it will reconvene the members' meeting to announce certified election results and member-motion outcomes once the verification is complete.

The secretary also said the board may refer confirmed instances of voting fraud to the county prosecutor after ElectionBuddy and the LCA audit are finished. "Voting fraud is a crime, and we will be referring this matter to the county prosecutor once we complete the audit," Segalla said during his remarks.