Secretary of State Orders Review of All County Registered Voters

Based on evidence that alleged voter fraud at a Latino rights agency is more widespread than previously reported, Secretary of State Bill Jones on Friday ordered a review of Orange County’s 1.3 million residents registered to vote in last year’s general election.

Jones’ action stems from a new audit by his office and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service of voter registration cards distributed by Hermandad Mexicana Nacional. The Santa Ana immigrant rights group is at the heart of an investigation by his office and the Orange County district attorney into alleged voter fraud.

Of the 1,160 people registered to vote on Hermandad-issued cards, 721 apparently had not completed the citizenship process before they registered, Jones said. Of that number, investigators contend, 442 unlawfully voted in the Nov. 5 election, in which 874,017 votes were cast countywide.

“I have concluded that substantial probable cause now exists to examine the integrity of the entire Orange County voter registration file in order to fully and accurately assess the extent of unlawful registrations . . . and to identify the sources of such unlawful registrations,” Jones wrote in a letter Friday to the INS in Los Angeles.

Jones has cited state statutes as giving him the authority to order the review of registrants. But on a practical level, he needs the cooperation of the INS to determine the citizenship status of those who registered for the past election.

Hermandad officials have repeatedly denied helping any noncitizens to register or vote, although they acknowledge that some overzealous students taking citizenship classes may have done so on their own.

Mark Rosen, Hermandad’s attorney, said the “numbers sound highly overstated.”

“I don’t take at face value any of the figures” being reported by the media or official agencies, he said. “If and when we have to, we will do our own evaluation of each registration that they claim is somehow impaired.”

The new numbers of improper registrations and votes are higher than earlier estimates. The district attorney’s office said in an affidavit filed in January that 227 people registered to vote on Hermandad registration cards while in the process of applying for citizenship.

Some of these people voted. But even if they were naturalized by election day, their votes would be invalid because they were not citizens when they registered, according to the secretary of state.

In his letter to Richard K. Rogers, Los Angeles district director of the INS, Jones cites state and federal law as the basis for his request.

Reached Friday, Rogers said he had received Jones’ letter and would cooperate. The only problem he envisioned would be how to accomplish the review.

“I am going to have to check with Washington, but I see it as a legitimate request under the law enforcement exemption” that permits the INS to share records with other agencies, he said. Rogers said he expected to take the matter up on Monday with headquarters.

Eric Andrus, chief spokesman for the INS in Washington, cautioned that INS records on individuals are protected by law. He said the request made Friday would have to be reviewed and that the public interest in knowing the information would have to be weighed against the privacy of the individuals.

The result of the voter-roll analysis is sure to become a key element in the challenge mounted in Orange County by defeated Rep. Robert K. Dornan, who lost Nov. 5 to Democrat Loretta Sanchez by 984 votes. Dornan has asked Congress to order a new election in the 46th District, claiming that he was ousted primarily by the votes of noncitizens. And Jones said he expects to be called as a witness in an upcoming congressional subcommittee hearing on the matter.

Because of his association with the GOP, Jones, who once served as Republican caucus leader in the state Assembly, is likely to draw criticism from some quarters for ordering the review.

But on Friday, Jones denied that his order was an attempt to assist a fellow Republican. “It comes back to whether the system as currently operating is adequate to ensure the integrity of the system,” Jones said.

Depending on the outcome of the Orange County review, Jones said, he would consider using the same technique elsewhere in the state to safeguard voter registration, which is conducted under an honor system in California.

Jones said the INS review would be “one piece in a comprehensive” check of the voter file, which also would include his office working with the Orange County registrar to weed out duplicate registrations, people who vote unlawfully from business addresses, fictitious registrations and other irregularities.

Jones said the number of fraudulent registrations connected to Hermandad is “the biggest in [recent state] history” and he is concerned that others could exploit the same weaknesses in the system.

“It is my hope that we won’t find a major problem . . . in the file in Orange County, but if we find a major problem [that is] even larger than what we perceived already . . . then that would in turn lead me to believe that there is probable cause to look at the remainder of California,” he said.

The secretary of state’s review of the voter file would be the most thorough test of Dornan’s claims of voter fraud and could provide him with information he has sought unsuccessfully to obtain from the INS by subpoena.

James Sweeney, chief counsel to Jones, said he has found no precedent for a state official asking the INS to run a voter file comparison for a whole county against immigration records, but he said it is “very clear that we have the authority.”

Jones, who served in the state Assembly for a dozen years representing Fresno and was Republican caucus leader in 1991-92, was elected secretary of state in 1994. He renounced Thursday an effort by agricultural interests to back him in next year’s GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat and said he wants to run again for secretary of state.

In his letter to Rogers, Jones said he intends to start the review within 30 days. He has asked to make a “computerized comparison” of the Orange County registration files and the INS databases.

“There is simply no other feasible means of verifying citizenship status. Without such a verification, criminal investigation of voter registration fraud and election fraud felony cases would be virtually impossible,” Jones said. “Moreover, there is no other means of assessing the degree to which the registration of unqualified noncitizens has corrupted the Orange County file.”

Officials in Jones’ office said a comparison of the voter file with INS databases in Washington could be done via a computer match program relatively quickly. The check of the 1,160 names of people registered to vote on Hermandad-issued cards, however, took analysts almost six weeks because it was done by hand.

A spokesman for Jones said experts in his office believe it would take about a day to write the necessary computer program and two days for the 1.3 million names on the voter file to be compared with INS records.

The secretary of state’s review did not break down countywide voter registration records into congressional districts. It was not possible to determine how many of the allegedly unlawful registrations or votes took place in the 46th Congressional District.

The first complaint that Hermandad may have aided a noncitizen to register was made in mid-October by the county registrar of voters to the district attorney’s office. State and local investigations, however, did not gain steam until mid-November, after Dornan filed his complaints with state and local authorities claiming the Latino rights group had encouraged noncitizens to register and vote.

In late December, The Times disclosed that 18 resident immigrants who received voter registration forms while they were students in citizenship classes at Hermandad had acknowledged registering to vote before being naturalized. Fifteen of them said they voted in the Nov. 5 election.

Times staff writers Nancy Cleeland and Dexter Filkins contributed to this report.

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Orange County Election Inquiry

California Secretary of State Bill Jones has called for a computer review of Orange County’s entire voter registration file to determine the extent of illegal voting and registration. Part of the process would include a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization verification.

* Review would include 1.3 million registrations

* Secretary of state has already found hundreds of fraudulent registrations and votes

* INS has been asked to check voter rolls for noncitizens

* INS director expected to honor request

What the secretary of state’s investigation has found so far regarding 1,160 county registrations by Hermandad Mexicana Nacional of Santa Ana:

*--*

Didn’t Voted vote Lawful 212 58 Unlawful 442 279 Unverified 105 64

*--*

Source: California secretary of state

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Hermandad Mexicana Nacional

Offices: Santa Ana, Anaheim, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago and New York

Mission: Nonprofit organization. Says its purpose is “to develop, improve and advance the economical, political, social, cultural, linguistic and educational interest of workers of Mexican descent”

What it does: Teaches English, conducts citizenship courses, provides legal assistance

Annual budget: $2.5 million

Employees: 30 (Santa Ana and Los Angeles County offices)

Officers: Bert Corona, executive director; Nativo Lopez, regional executive director in Santa Ana; Juan Garcia, news director; Tony Montano, bookkeeper

Clients served: 13,000 last year (Santa Ana and Los Angeles County offices)

Source: Hermandad Mexicana Nacional

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A Wider Probe

Secretary of State Bill Jones has ordered an unprecedented review of Orange County’s 1.3 million registered voters and wants to check the names against INS citizenship files. Here are excerpts from a letter Jones wrote to INS District Director Richard K. Rogers asking for his cooperation.

Here are excerpts from California Secretary of State Bill Jones’ letter to U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service District Director Richard Rogers delivered Friday regarding Jones’ decision to review the entire Orange County voter registration file:

“The results of our investigation, thus far, are very disturbing. Based upon data analysis performed by INS, the Orange County district attorney’s office and my staff, we have been able to discern, with a significant level of accuracy, that [Hermandad Mexicana Nacional] appears to have registered a very significant number of people, who, by virtue of their citizenship status, are ineligible to both register to vote and to vote.”

” . . . It is essential, at this point, to determine whether any other individuals or organizations were engaged in an organized effort in Orange County to unlawfully register unqualified persons to vote prior to the 1996 general election.”

” . . . Substantial probable cause now exists to examine the integrity of the entire Orange County voter registration file in order to fully and accurately assess the extent of unlawful registrations resident in the system and to identify the sources of such unlawful registrations.”

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How the Investigation Developed

Oct. 15: The registrar of voters files a complaint with the district attorney’s office, after a noncitizen told the registrar of improperly registering to vote before gaining citizenship. The noncitizen reported being registered on an Hermandad-issued affidavit.

Nov. 5: Rep. Robert K. Dornan loses to Democrat Loretta Sanchez by 984 votes. Hermandad Executive Director Nativo Lopez wins a seat on Santa Ana Unified School Board by 1,033 votes.

Dec. 27: The Times reveals that nearly 20 noncitizens registered to vote.

Feb. 5: Times reports that affidavit filed in support of search on Hermandad offices show 227 people in the process of applying for citizenship registered to vote on registration cards supplied by Hermandad.

March 14: Secretary of State Bill Jones sends letter to INS District Director Richard K. Rogers reporting that at least 721 of 1,160 people registered to vote on Hermandad-issued cards were not citizens. Of that number, Jones said, 442 unlawfully cast ballots in the Nov. 5 election.

Sources: California secretary of state’s office, Times reports