GOP Alleges Fraud in Voter Registration Push : Politics: Republicans say Democrats illegally padded the figures in the contested 69th Assembly District.

In an indication that Republicans plan to engage in an all-out war for the 69th Assembly District seat, 11 local GOP legislators fired the first major shot of the fall election campaign Thursday by accusing Democrats of voter-registration fraud in that district.

But the Democrats, who now hold a 21-point voter registration margin over Republicans in the central Orange County district--55.6% to 34.7%--accused the GOP of sour grapes.

The battle over the 69th district seat, the only legislative seat in the county to be held by a Democrat, is considered one of the most competitive in the state. The district has 82,682 voters and includes parts of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

The candidates are Democrat Michael Metzler, the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce president; Libertarian George Reis, a police photographer; and Republican Jim Morrissey, an Anaheim businessman. The incumbent, Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), is giving up the seat to run for state attorney general.

In a letter to county Registrar of Voters Donald Tanney, the Republicans asked that by Sept. 30 the county purge from the voter rolls the names of those who have been illegally registered in the district.

Tanney said his office would research whether it could accomplish the task by the end of the month and also determine if it is even legally required. “I don’t even know if we can do it based on a specific district,” he said.

A review of the voter registration rolls for the 69th district would affect at least two other districts that overlap that area--the 46th Congressional District represented by Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), and the 34th state Senate District represented by Sen. Rob Hurtt (R-Garden Grove).

The GOP legislators alleged in the letter that the 69th Assembly District “has fallen victim to unscrupulous and possibly illegal voter registration programs intended to show a majority by the (Democrats). The attempt to bolster Democrat voter registration numbers has led to hundreds of duplicate or nonexistent voters being added to the rolls.”

Attached to the letter were more than three dozen examples of registered voters who had similar names with birth dates that were identical or off by a digit and listed at the same residences. The letter also contended that there were dozens of Democratic voters who listed a homeless shelter in Santa Ana as their residence.

Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Garden Grove), leading the charge, called for the investigation after his legislative aide, Jim Bieber, conducted a random review of the voter registration rolls. Others signing the letter included Dornan, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), and Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad).

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In addition to Conroy, state legislators signing the letter included state Sen. John Lewis (R-Orange), and Assemblymen Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), Ross Johnson (R-La Habra), Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) and Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove).

Bieber alleged that the voter fraud occurred because Democrats collected registrations based on “bounties,” in which campaign workers were paid a certain amount of money for every name registered.

But Umberg’s campaign manager, George Urch, responded that Republicans use the same method to register voters. “They can’t win by playing fair and square, so they need some excuse to try and control the system,” he said of the voter fraud charges.

Urch said Democrats have been working hard to increase voter registration in the 69th District, and the Republicans are refusing to recognize that the district is changing.

“Republicans just don’t have their act together. The Democrats do, and I think they are feeling some pain. Are they going to do poll guards again?” Urch said, referring to the 1988 election in which the Republicans posted uniformed guards at polling places in predominantly Latino precincts.

Rich Milner, a spokesman for Metzler, said their campaign double-checks new voter registrations because they do not want to pay for registrations that are bogus. He added that it makes no sense to sign up false names, since the voter rolls are used in telephone banks to get out the vote and to send out campaign mailers.

“It’s the same old argument (Republicans) throw out every two years because they panic,” Milner said. “They are crying foul because this district has become more and more Democrat. . . . Don’t blame us because people are switching from Republican to Democrat.”

Michael Lopez, a Westminster resident, said he has no idea how another Michael Lopez with his phone number and address but with a different birth date appeared on the voters’ list documented by the Republicans.

Lopez, 45, said his son is also named Michael but is only 16 and has never registered to vote. According to Lopez’s voter registration card, he registered to vote on June 26, 1976.

The other Michael Lopez gave a birth date of June 21, 1955, and registered on July 30, 1979, using the real Lopez’s address and phone number.

“I have no idea who may be using my name and address to vote,” Lopez said. “I’ve only registered once. I do know that this other guy, whoever he is, hasn’t been cashing my paychecks.”

According to the voter’s list submitted by the GOP, Nhat Q. Truong, also of Westminster, registered to vote on Sept. 30, 1992.

A T.N. Truong, with a birth date of June 4, 00, is also registered at Nhat Truong’s address and phone number and is listed as his wife. The alleged “Mrs. Truong” registered on Sept. 24, 1992. But Nhat Truong, whose birth date is June 4, 1971, said he is not married.

“I’m single. There is no Mrs. Truong,” he said. “I registered so I could vote in a City Council election, and it’s the only time in my life that I’ve voted. I wouldn’t expect anybody to use my name in order to vote, and I certainly wouldn’t allow them.”

Tanney said an internal investigation would show if, for example, two similar voters with different registration numbers voted in the same election, indicating voter fraud.

“I am sure that, from the tone of the letter (from the Republicans), that the data they have provided us is going to be absolutely correct,” he said.

Times staff writer H.G. Reza contributed to this report.