Vista Murrieta ASB adviser steps down after tampering with student elections

MURRIETA, Calif. (KABC) -- Students at Vista Murrieta High School learned a lesson in political scandal, computer hacking and rigged elections.

On Friday, school administrators revealed their class elections had been tampered with. In March, students voted online to elect class officers and their student body president.

School district officials said an investigation revealed the electronic voting system the school used had been compromised by the Associated Student Body adviser.

At least three elections were rigged, which changed the outcome for the junior and senior president and junior secretary. A parent whose son ran for ASB president and lost discovered the voting irregularities.

Eyewitness News spoke with Wade Sine about what he found.

He said an election report he viewed showed many votes were made at 10:30 p.m. within 40 seconds of each other and in alphabetical order.

Sine said he took his findings to the school principal. The school and district launched an investigation in which the ASB adviser admitted to altering the votes. She has since resigned.

"The rightful winners of those races will take those offices. The students who were previously named winners will have appointed positions on ASB so they will continue to serve. Going forward, steps have already been taken to ensure the sanctity of the electoral process for future elections," said Karen Parris, with the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.

But those answers did not satisfy Sine, who said another election should be held. He believes his son, who has been class president two years in a row, would have won in a fair election.