GOP Agrees to Settle Poll Guard Suit

Republican Assemblyman Curt Pringle, the Orange County Republican Party and others who infuriated Latinos and Democrats by posting uniformed guards at polling places last year agreed Friday to pay $400,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit against them.

But lawyers for the six Latino voters who filed the federal lawsuit said they have not signed the proposed settlement. Joseph Remcho, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, denied the case had been settled but said he expected a settlement early next week.

“We are under terms of a court order forbidding us from discussing a settlement until it’s final and signed by all parties,” Remcho said. “I’m a lawyer, not a politician, and I’ll abide by the order.”

The lawsuit had been scheduled for trial Jan. 16 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

Pringle (R-Garden Grove), local Republican officials and Assemblyman John R. Lewis (R-Orange), who was also a defendant in the case, could not be reached for comment. Michael G. Balmages, chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party, hailed the settlement but said he was sorry the case was not going to trial.

“The plaintiffs will not get their day in court and the public will be deprived (of learning more) about the illegal, unconstitutional and highly unethical acts that were committed by the Orange County Republican Party and the campaign of Mr. Pringle,” he said.

State and federal agencies are still investigating to determine whether any criminal charges should be filed over the decision to post the guards at 20 polling places in predominantly Latino areas of Santa Ana on Nov. 8, 1988, when Pringle narrowly defeated Democrat Christian (Rick) Thierbach to take the 72nd Assembly District seat.

The guards carried signs in English and Spanish warning that non-citizens cannot legally vote. Some Latino leaders complained that it was a clear attempt to scare them away from polling places. County Republican officials responded that the guards were there only to monitor and report election fraud. They said a rumor had spread that Democrats planned to bus in illegal voters to tip the contest in Thierbach’s favor.

The plaintiffs had asked that the election results be set aside, but if a final settlement is reached, the outcome will stand.

None of the defendants admitted any wrongdoing by agreeing to settle the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs in the case were Rumaldo Madrid, Rudy R. Rios, Jose Diaz Vargas, Helen R. Canales, Tommy Q. Canales and Jane Fantauzzi, all of Santa Ana.

Times staff writer Jim Carlton contributed to this story.