School Teacher Accused Of Offering Money For Votes In Mayor Election

A Baldwin Park, California, elementary school teacher and city clerk candidate, who was accused of offering to pay a former student $50 per vote to gather them for herself, denied the allegations, a report said Thursday.

Jean Ayala, an elementary school teacher at Baldwin Park’s Walnut Elementary School, which was a part of Baldwin Park Unified School District (USD), was in the running to become Baldwin Park’s next city clerk in the November elections.

The incident came to light when the mother of the former student shared screenshots of the messages exchanged between Ayala and her son on Facebook with FOX 11. She said her son, who was currently in high school, was a former student of Ayala.

“I need you to get me people you may know as friend, family, anyone that is 18 and older,” Ayala allegedly wrote. “I’ll pay you $50 per person who votes for me and Mayor [Manuel] Lozano, what you think?”

The student agreed to the deal. Ayala allegedly wrote twice not to inform anyone else about the deal and that she was paying for it.

“Just don’t tell anyone I’m paying for this, okay?” Ayala said first according to the screenshot, before going on to repeat herself, “Just DON’T tell anyone right now, okay?”

Most of the replies by the former student were whitened out or erased except for one in which he asked her where to go to receive the money from her. She allegedly instructed him to go to the post office, adding if she saw him at the park, she’d would give some money to him as well.

According to the FOX 11 report, Ayala could not be reached Wednesday for a comment but she was contacted via phone Thursday wherein she denied writing the messages, and added she was a victim of political scare tactics.

“As a lifelong resident, a 26 year veteran teacher in the Baldwin Park Unified School District and City Commissioner for The Recreation and Community Service Department I am appalled and disgusted by these FALSE AND ERRONEOUS allegations made about me,” she said in a statement. “I would never tamper with the election process. I am a well respected professional vested in my community. I have served my community WITH INTEGRITY. I have served countless families and taught thousands of children in this community. These allegations are UNACCEPTABLE. This is a result of adversaries who fear the election process and who fabricated a profile posing as me to create a controversy.”

She demanded a full and thorough criminal investigation “against any and all individuals involved in this fraudulent hacking.”

“I would not be surprised if there is a complete connection between this fraud and my political opponents who may be willing to do anything to prevent me from getting elected,” she said in the statement.

Mayor Manuel Lozano, who previously endorsed Ayala, brought up the allegations during a city council meeting Wednesday night.

“Somehow, of course part of this campaign stuff, someone placed that she was going to pay people that voted for her $50,” Lozano said. “Social media can do anything. The media showed up at her house looking for her, of course she was here at the city council. So I just want to say that’s the unfortunate part of what transpires in today’s world.”

Baldwin Park USD refused to comment on the allegations as it was not directly related to Ayala’s duties in the school, a report said.

According to USLegal, vote buying was a federal crime which was punishable by a fine not more than $10,000 or up to five years in prison or both. Most states have specific laws that ban vote buying.