Latino Leaders Urge Halt to State Probe of Voter Rolls

In their first public reaction to the secretary of state’s decision to compare Orange County’s voter rolls against federal immigration records, a coalition of Latino leaders on Thursday demanded a stop to the investigation and said they fear it will dissuade Latinos and others from becoming involved in the political process.

“We are outraged not only for the Latino community but for the total community,” said Santa Ana attorney Al Amezcua, a member of Citizens for Democracy, formed earlier this year in the wake of allegations that noncitizens voted in last November’s election.

Amezcua and others alleged that Secretary of State Bill Jones’ investigation is based on sparse evidence and is an attempt to gain political capital.

Officials in Jones’ office said an investigation of the county’s 1.3 million registrants will be conducted so as to ensure that the results are “comprehensive and color-blind.”

“There’s no doubt we have a problem,” Jones said. “I don’t think it would be appropriate to not answer the question that is going to be asked by the people of Orange County.”

Jones’ investigation stems from allegations of noncitizens voting in the county in last November’s general election with the help of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, a Santa Ana Latino rights organization. The offices of the secretary of state and the Orange County district attorney began a joint investigation of Hermandad last year to determine whether the nonprofit agency had encouraged noncitizens to vote.

Earlier this month, Jones said he would expand the investigation by seeking U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service lists to compare against Orange County voter rolls for unlawful registrations. Of 1,160 people who signed up to vote on Hermandad-issued registration cards, Jones said, 721 were not yet citizens. Of those, 442 voted in the November election.

Hermandad officials deny wrongdoing and question the authenticity of Jones’ numbers.

A spokesman in Jones’ office said that if technicians from the INS and secretary of state can work out the details, a complete check of the 1.3 million registrations could be done within a few weeks.

Amezcua said he did not believe Jones had probable cause to spark such a large-scale investigation.

“He is [on] . . . a fishing expedition,” said Amezcua, who was joined by Amin David, president of the Latino advocacy group Los Amigos of Orange County, Adan Ortega, secretary of the board of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and several others.

Jones has said that 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 of voters to weed out duplicate registrations, fictitious registrations and other irregularities.

Latino leaders, gathered at the Rancho de Mendoza restaurant Thursday, said Latinos in Orange County already have been intimidated by the investigations because they believe their privacy may be invaded if they register.

Amezcua said that since Citizens for Democracy set up an 800 telephone line in January they have received about 100 calls, some from people who reported being intimidated at the polls last November. Jones dismissed allegations that his investigation was anti-Latino by citing the numerous instances of his office participating in campaigns to register Latinos to vote.