Bill on Poll Guards Advances in Assembly

Proposed legislation that would prevent the use of armed security guards at polling places unanimously passed one Assembly committee and was sent to a second panel for review.

The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Milton Marks (D-San Francisco), would make it a felony for anyone to use the armed guards to intimidate voters on Election Day. The bill has already passed the state Senate.

On Tuesday, the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee quickly voted 7 to 0 to approve the legislation. The panel attached a couple of technical amendments, including one raising the fine for violations to $10,000, an amount provided for other felonies in the state penal code. Before the amendment, the fine had been proposed at $5,000.

The bill was sent to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee for debate. If passed there, it will be sent to the full Assembly and then to the governor.

Marks’ measure was inspired by controversy last November over the Orange County Republican Party’s hiring of uniformed security guards, who were stationed at 20 predominantly Latino precincts in a close Assembly race. In that election, newcomer Curt Pringle defeated his Democratic opponent by 867 votes.

Last month, Marks released a copy of an internal memorandum from the Republican National Committee that denounced “any methods or tactics which in any way could be viewed as chilling an individual’s intent to exercise his or her right to vote.”

The memo said the national committee asked its workers to refrain from wearing “public or private law enforcement or security guard uniforms, using armbands, or carrying or displaying guns or badges. . . .”

Chief Counsel E. Mark Braden wrote the memo, which was sent to all state and local Republican committees participating in a 1988 poll-watching program.

Marks released the memo to show that his proposed legislation is not an attack on Republicans but has bipartisan support. The bill received only token opposition--two no votes--in the Senate before being sent to the Assembly for consideration.