Like Elen Asatryan, Glendale City Clerk, Suzie Abajian, Commits Campaign Violations in 2026 Election

Taking a page from her law-breaking friend, Elen Asatryan’s playbook, Glendale City Clerk, Suzie Abajian starts her campaign with violations.

Days ago I received a photo of Suzie Abajian using public property to display her campaign signs. The usage of city parkways, freeway entrances, public parks and other public property for campaigning is strictly prohibited.

I’ve seen unscrupulous politicians knowingly violate this campaign law in previous elections (Vrej Agajanian, reprimanded in 2022 repeated the violation in 2024).
In addition to Abajian’s illegal sign location, she ignored placement time restrictions, which are limited to 90 days prior to the election.

The images below were taken 93 and 91 days prior to the election respectively. Actual earlier placement times are unknown.

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That should concern everyone who understands that it is our City Clerk’s job to oversee our elections, determine nomination eligibility, and announce final vote counts. Sometimes it is up to our City Clerk whether someone’s vote should even be counted, as in cases of questionable provisional ballots).

The City Clerk should enforce this election law, not violate it. To see our City Clerk engage in disregard for the law induces a profound distrust of the office she holds and casts a shadow on the overall integrity of our city government.
As an election official, our City Clerk should have a comprehensive knowledge of our campaign laws.

Unfortunately, like Elen Asatryan, Suzie Abajian appears willing to break them. Do they share the belief that they are exempt from following laws because they are women?

Suzie and Elen’s breaking of election laws in this cycle are not sensational high crimes. They are a mundane disregard for rules, and a sign of their common disrespect for the public. The greatest information they provide voters is about the content of their character.

For background:

• Suzie Abajain abandoned her position with the Pasadena School Board, at the behest of Elen Asatryan, to run for the Glendale City Clerk position in 2022. Since then she has brought divisive politics into her non-partisan position, frequently botched public speaker presentations, snapped at citizens, and has missed several City Council meetings leaving the responsibility to her assistants. She has also left shoddy work on our “Glendalevotes” website including careless typos and a format that conceals election data.

• In February, she complained to the Charter Review Committee that her department required higher salaries, which necessitates a pay raise for her to maintain department salary superiority.

• During this nomination period, Abajian’s department has come under scrutiny for rejecting the legitimate signatures on the nomination papers of new candidates.

• She was among the four government insiders (including Elen Asatryan, Dan Brotman, and Alek Bartrosuf) to have their nomination papers streamlined for qualification status while new candidates still struggle to do the same.

I voted for Suzie Abajian in 2022. This year I will not. I want a City Clerk and election official that remains non-partisan, serves the entire public, and respects election laws.