RIGHTS WATCH : Narrow Justice

The Justice Department is risking further harassment at polling places with an ill-considered opinion on an incident that marred Orange County’s November, 1988, Election Day. The opinion represents an all too narrow view of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which is deprived of meaning if it cannot ensure the integrity of the ballot place.

The Orange County Republican Party had posted uniformed guards, some equipped with signs in Spanish warning noncitizens not to vote, at 20 Santa Ana precincts in largely Latino neighborhoods of the 72nd Assembly District.

Republicans said guards were needed because of rumors that Democrats would bus in illegal voters, but Democrats and Latinos accused the GOP of intimidation.

Who was right? All the facts have never come out, but last year GOP officials paid five Latinos a $400,000 settlement in a civil lawsuit.

Now, government criminal inquiries are still dragging on. U.S. Deputy Assistant Atty. Gen. Bruce C. Navarro, asked about their status by Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego), said federal laws may not apply because there was no violence--a troubling suggestion that other shenanigans might be tolerated.

Navarro’s point that plaintiffs were not actually deterred from voting was addressed well in the civil case by U.S. Dist. Judge J. Spencer Letts, who said the more important issue was any threat of such an intrusion.

It’s a good thing Navarro’s narrow perspective is being reviewed by Congress. A broader view of government’s interest in fair play on Election Day is needed.