ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Somehow One Senses a Lack of Sincerity

When a $400,000 settlement was reached last year in the so-called “poll-guard” lawsuit, the plaintiffs earmarked $150,000 for a massive voter registration and education effort in Orange County’s Latino community. Creating a fund for that purpose was generous and fitting, but what’s happened to those funds since is a real disappointment.

The lawsuit was brought against the Orange County Republican Party and the campaign of Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) by plaintiffs who said there had been intimidation of Latino voters in the November, 1988, election by uniformed security guards at several polling places in Santa Ana. The county GOP, which hired the guards at the request of Pringle’s political consultant, said it responded to rumors that Democrats planned to bus illegal voters to the 72nd Assembly District to tip the election in favor of Pringle’s opponent. Nevertheless, the incident left a bad feeling among Latinos, and criminal investigations by the county and federal prosecutors are still pending.

Meanwhile, however, it appears that most of the money set aside for the nonpartisan voter registration and education project is not being utilized. Unless something is done quickly, a huge opportunity to increase Latino voters by as many as 30,000 before the Nov. 6 election will be missed.

Some of the money--about $48,000--was given to the Hispanic Political Council, an organization created in 1988 by a Santa Ana construction workers union. But so far only a pittance--$1,200--has gone toward voter registration, according to financial statements filed with the county registrar of voters. The council spent $3,000 to rent a hall for a fund-raiser and $4,400 was loaned out. Records indicate that about $42,000 of council money remains unspent.

Of the rest, $4,000 was given to a national voter registration project, which used it to support Latino candidates--none from Orange County; $7,800 was given to a group for a registration project that hasn’t gotten off the ground, and $90,000 is being held by the lawyer who represented the plaintiffs. He says he hasn’t gotten around to organizing a voter registration drive in Orange County, which is understandable since his firm is in San Francisco.

If there’s to be a successful drive to register Latino voters, it must come from the community itself. The money is there, but someone must make sure the money is spent as intended.

The plaintiffs have done their part. It’s time for others to do the rest.