Attorney general evaluating ballots The state attorney...

Attorney general evaluating ballots

The state attorney general’s office will look into a complaint

that a campaign worker for Republican 68th Assembly District

candidate Van Tran was in possession of absentee ballots that had

been filled out by voters.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters office received six

completed ballots along with about 40 uncompleted ballots from a

campaign volunteer on Feb. 9 and 10. State law stipulates that voters

are to give completed ballots only to poll workers or the Registrar

of Voters. The matter was reported to the Orange County District

Attorney’s office Feb. 13, assistant registrar of voters Suzanne

Slupsky said Friday.

Because Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas has endorsed Tran, his office

passed the complaint along to the attorney general Monday, said

Assistant Dist. Atty. Douglas Woodsmall. Senior Assistant Atty. Gen.

Gary Schons said his office will evaluate the matter to see if any

violation may have occurred, but he had no other details.

Tran’s campaign last week said the incident was an innocent

mistake made by a volunteer trying to assist voters.

Toll road bond ratings withdrawn

The agencies governing the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road and the

Foothill and Eastern toll roads will have to seek new bond ratings if

they want to complete a merger of toll road operations.

New York-based Moody’s Investors Service on Friday withdrew the

Baa3 rating it had given to revenue bonds that are part of a proposed

$3.9-billion bond sale to combine the toll roads and refinance their

debt. A Baa3 bond rating is one step above junk status.

A bond rating gauges the investment quality of the bonds, which

helps determine how much it will cost to insure them. Getting a

rating from Moody’s before the bond sale was approved by the toll

roads’ governing boards was unusual, toll road agencies’ spokeswoman

Clare Climaco said.

“They typically don’t issue ratings unless they know there’s a

bond issue that’s going to happen,” she said.

“The reason why we’re not really surprised is the ratings were

given on the anticipation that the board would take some kind of

action and they didn’t.”

The board delayed voting on the proposed merger plan on Feb. 12

and again last week.

An ad hoc committee will meet Thursday to explore financial

options for the merger, and the toll roads’ governing boards will

request new bond ratings once a financial plan is adopted, Climaco

said.

Candidates to pitch plans at UCI

A candidate forum hosted by UC Irvine will be held tonight from

6:30 to 9 p.m. in the Crystal Cove Auditorium at the UCI Student

Center.

Candidates from all parties for the 35th District state Senate

seat and the 68th, 69th and 70th Assembly District seats have been

invited to participate, and speakers for and against Proposition 55

will present their arguments.

UC Irvine associate professor of political science Louis DeSipio

will be the event’s moderator. For more information on this free

event, call (949)824-3558.