ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Sharp Lookout Everywhere

The contentious 69th Assembly District in northern Orange County has a history of political shenanigans. Once again, with the seat open in the November election, concern about the voting process has come up, although to date much of it seems unfounded.

Two weeks ago, Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Garden Grove), who represents a nearby district, claimed the voting rolls of the 69th contained phony names. County Democrats denied committing any voter fraud, and the county registrar of voters, who rightly and quickly investigated, said he found no evidence that fraudulent ballots had been cast.

Last week Conroy called for “volunteer poll watchers” at some precincts in the district in the coming election. That prompted the county chapter of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund to denounce Conroy and to request that U.S. Justice Department monitors be present for the election.

The volunteer poll watchers might satisfy Conroy but because they cannot challenge voters directly it is difficult to see what they would prove to anyone else. Six years ago Republicans stationed uniformed guards at the polls in what Latinos said was an attempt to intimidate them to keep them from voting. The party used the flimsy excuse of merely trying to keep non-citizens from the polls and ended up paying more than $400,000 to settle lawsuits stemming from the incident.

The specifics of the present case aside, voter fraud is a serious matter. And the political flap is a reminder that as Election Day nears, the registrar of voters should keep a sharp lookout everywhere.