Latinos Criticize D.A. on Pace of Poll-Guard Inquiry

A group of Latino Democrats, angry with the pace of an investigation into the Republican Party’s use of uniformed poll guards during last November’s election, had some sharp words for the Orange County district attorney’s office Friday.

“We express our outrage, our anger, and our shame at the absence of criminal charges filed against those responsible for posting uniformed security guards . . . at predominantly Hispanic polling places,” said Rueben Martinez, county Democratic Party treasurer, at a news conference in Santa Ana. “It has been 10 months since our pride as American citizens was violated; the district attorney has yet to file charges.”

The county Republican Party spent about $4,000 to station uniformed guards at polling places in 20 largely Latino precincts in Santa Ana last Election Day. They were hired at the suggestion of a political consultant for state Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), who won the 72nd District election by fewer than 900 votes.

County Republican Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes has said he authorized the hiring of the guards because of rumors that illegal voters were to be bused in to aid the Democratic candidate in the Assembly race, Christian F. (Rick) Thierbach.

County Democrats and Latino groups say the stationing of the guards at the polling places, and the guards’ questioning of voters about their citizenship status, violated state and federal laws against interfering with elections and intimidating voters.

Martinez said Friday he was not pointing a finger at Pringle or Fuentes specifically, but only wanted the district attorney’s office “to use the same diligence against those who steal our rights as those who steal our property.”

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade, who is heading the county’s investigation into the incident, said no decision has been made yet on whether to file charges. And, he said, he could not predict when the decision might be made.

“The investigation’s still going on,” Wade said. “We have been doing interviews, we’ve done some within this month. . . . We’re analyzing some written materials. . . . I can understand if some of the community members are anxious to know what our conclusion is.”

Wade said one reason the investigation has not gone more quickly is that it is being conducted jointly with the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office. “We have to coordinate with other agencies,” he said. “There are just a whole bunch of factors.”

Earlier this month, Gov. George Deukmejian signed into law a measure prohibiting armed or uniformed security guards at polling places. The measure, which met little resistance in the Legislature, was written in reaction to the Santa Ana incident.

A civil lawsuit against Pringle, Fuentes and several other Republicans, which was filed by six Latino voters who claim they were intimidated by the guards, is also pending. One defendant, the security firm that provided the guards, settled with the plaintiffs earlier this year for $60,000.