O.C. Latinos Plan Protest of 46th District Hearing

Promising to make themselves heard at next Saturday’s congressional hearing, Latino rights supporters plan to mobilize hundreds of marchers for a morning-long rally near the County Hall of Administration, venting frustrations that have been building for years.

“We intend to go there to defend the character and dignity of the community in the district,” said Art Montez, president of the Santa Ana chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “For two years, it’s been one insult after another.”

Former Rep. Robert K. Dornan has asked the House Oversight Committee to void the results of the November election in the 46th Congressional District, which he lost by 984 votes to Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove). Dornan contended hundreds of noncitizens voted, most registered by Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, an immigrant advocacy organization that is under state and local investigation for possible vote fraud.

The secretary of state’s office has determined that 303 “unlawful” votes were cast in the race by people registered to vote on affidavits supplied by Hermandad and is reviewing all 1.3 million county registrations to determine whether the problem is more widespread.

Hermandad’s Santa Ana office is co-sponsoring next Saturday’s rally. It estimated in a police permit application the rally would draw 5,000 marchers.

“That’s a pretty healthy number,” Sgt. Bob Clark of the Santa Ana Police Department said skeptically. “It’ll probably be a good-sized group.”

The permit calls for a march to start at 9 a.m. at Hermandad’s offices, at 825 N. Broadway, to pass the County Hall of Administration and to end at the Plaza of the Flags on Santa Ana Boulevard, where a rally is scheduled to continue until 1 p.m. Montez said LULAC intends to register voters at the rally.

“We don’t anticipate any problems,” Clark said.

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Organizers said the hearing provides a focal point for people who have been offended by the vote-fraud investigation and Dornan’s charges that Sanchez never should have won the election. “We are doing everything possible to really make a statement,” said Amin David, a businessman who leads a group of community activists called Los Amigos of Orange County. “This is an opportunity to release our energy in a proper and dignified way, and we don’t want to miss it.”

It was unknown Friday who will be allowed to speak at the hearing. A spokesman for Sanchez said she is unsure whether she will attend because she has received no notification as to the format or agenda. Sanchez has maintained since the election that Dornan is a sore loser and has been unable to close the margin to overturn the contest.

In a letter sent to the committee last month, Montez asked to speak at the hearing, but said he had been unable to find out the agenda. “I’ll either be inside with a suit or outside with Levis and a bullhorn,” he said.

A flier promoting the rally was posted at the Hall of Administration on Friday, and was distributed at the offices of Hermandad and other community organizations. “You will witness history,” promised the flier, which featured photographs of Sanchez and Dornan. “This will be an historic opportunity for the citizens of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Anaheim to see their government in action.”

Although the Orange County Central Labor Council was listed as a co-sponsor of the march, no one at the council office Friday could confirm the group’s involvement. If unions do lend their organizational muscle, the numbers of participants could grow dramatically.