ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Be Careful in Vote Fraud Probe

The Orange County district attorney and the California secretary of state are investigating possible electoral fraud in last November’s 46th Congressional District race. Last Friday, Secretary of State Bill Jones announced that of 1,160 people registered to vote on cards checked out of the registrar of voters’ office by Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, 721 apparently had not completed the process of becoming American citizens. Of the 721, Jones said, investigators believed 442 voted. Both registering and voting before becoming a citizen are illegal.

So Jones’ investigation is warranted. Charges of electoral fraud in other campaigns have seldom held up under scrutiny, but if there is improper voting it must be stopped.

Hermandad, a Latino civil rights organization, denies helping any noncitizens to register. Amid allegations becoming more serious, Hermandad still has not provided a convincing explanation for what appears to be an extensive problem.

But Jones’ order of a review of all 1.3 million registered voters in Orange County is a quantum leap in his probe and is problematic. What justifies taking the investigation to this level? His argument was that problems within one organization that specializes in registering new voters, Hermandad, could occur in others. That is always possible, of course, but before casting a net over an entire county’s voter rolls, it would have been prudent to produce some evidence that other groups had similar problems.

Making certain that those who vote are properly qualified and registered ought to be a straightforward matter. Most no doubt are. The effort to uphold the integrity of the rolls is justifiable, but officials should be careful before leaping to conclusions.