GOP Official Says He OKd Observers at Polls

Orange County’s GOP chairman said Friday that he had agreed to use party funds to hire Election Day observers at polls in the 72nd Assembly District, but that the chief consultant to the district’s Republican candidate decided that those observers should be uniformed guards.

Controversy erupted Tuesday when the guards showed up at 7 a.m. at 20 polling places in heavily Latino areas of the 72nd District, wearing uniforms and carrying signs in Spanish and English warning people not to vote if they were not U.S. citizens. In some instances, guards sat at tables with poll workers, and at least one handled a ballot.

County Registrar of Voters Donald F. Tanney ordered the guards away from the polls. Only voters and election officials are allowed within 100 feet of a polling place.

County Republican Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes, who has accepted responsibility for the incident, said Friday that the guards were requested by Carlos Rodriguez, Assembly candidate Curt Pringle’s political consultant, a few weeks before the election. Fuentes said he and Rodriguez were concerned that Democrats might bring illegally registered people to the polls.

“I said we would be willing to pay for that segment of our Election Day overall voting security,” Fuentes said.

Rodriguez declined comment Friday.

Democrats have decried the use of uniformed guards, saying they may have affected the outcome of the 72nd District race. Pringle apparently won a narrow victory over Democratic opponent Christian F. (Rick) Thierbach, although some absentee ballots have not been counted.