Panel OKs Limits on Private Guards at Polling Places

A bill that would outlaw unsanctioned guards at polling places was passed by an Assembly committee on Wednesday.

Committee member Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), on whose behalf uniformed security guards were hired for the Nov. 8 election, was not present for the vote. However, he did add his vote later in the afternoon, making the final vote 7 to 0.

The bill “is completely and totally political,” Pringle, who won the election by fewer than 900 votes, said Wednesday. “By voting for this bill, I’m not admitting somebody did something wrong or something wasn’t right.”

The Republican Party hired 20 uniformed guards last year to monitor Latino voters as they went to the polls in Santa Ana. The guards allegedly asked Latino voters for proof of their citizenship, wrote down license-plate numbers, handled one or more ballots and carried bilingual signs which read, “Non-citizens can’t vote.”

Before the election, Republican Party officials heard rumors that Democrats were planning to bus non-citizens to polling places to vote illegally, Republican leaders said.

Although GOP officials said the guards were instructed to stay 100 feet from the polling place and not interfere with voters, the guards were removed when the registrar of voters complained that their presence might intimidate Latinos.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) and passed by the Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee Wednesday, was a response to that incident.

The bill would prohibit any uniformed security guard or peace officer within 100 feet of a polling place without the permission of the appropriate elections official. It also would prohibit anyone from asking voters their qualifications.

The bill now goes to the full Assembly, where it is expected to be approved. The Senate last week passed a nearly identical measure by Sen. Milton Marks (D-San Francisco).