Could former Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. vote in Tuesday's election to select his successor prior to jumping into his prison jumpsuit on Friday?
That's an unusual circumstance the the San Jose Mercury News recently looked into.
Shirakawa, who represented District 2 (East San Jose) on the county board, was convicted in March of multiple felonies, including corruption and gambling away public funds.
The 51-year-old is a self-avowed gambling addict who followed up his arrest for gambling with a visit to a casino.
The unusual circumstance of Shirakawa possibly being able to vote set off a chain of fact checks a Mercury News reporter recently had with with county officials.
The county registrar of voters told the reporter to seek advice from the county counsel's office on Shirakawa's voting rights. The county counsel then pointed the reporter to check in with the district attorney. The DA in turn suggested a call to the registrar's office, bringing this fact-checking hunt back to the starting point.
The Mercury News was told from the state's Fair Political Practices Commission that Shirakawa is not eligible to vote because he was convicted, and that he can't vote until he's off parole.
