Special Projects

The Times Orange County uncovered the first evidence that noncitizens may have registered and voted in last fall’s election; federal, state and local authorities are investigating.

AWARD

Orange County Press Club

1st Place: Investigative Reporting

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Noncitizens Say They Cast Ballots in Key O.C. Vote

By PETER M. WARREN and NANCY CLEELAND and H.G. REZA

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Dec. 27, 1996

Noncitizens registered to vote this fall with the aid of a Latino civil-rights organization and later cast ballots in a central Orange County district that included the hotly contested Nov. 5 race between Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Democrat Loretta Sanchez.

Fifteen people interviewed by The Times acknowledged that they voted though they had not completed the naturalization process, which is finalized with an official swearing-in ceremony. All but one were taking citizenship classes with the Santa Ana-based Hermandad Mexicana Nacional organization. Nativo Lopez, the executive director of Hermandad, who won a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School District board this fall, conceded that some students in the classes voted before they were sworn in. He attributed the problem to misunderstandings and overzealousness by those about to become citizens.

“I feel a responsibility to all those people who went through here that somehow down the road those things were not made clear enough to them,” he said in an interview Thursday. But he added that “my clear instruction to people was they could not vote until they were sworn in, and all my staff were instructed the same way.”

The voters, however, said in interviews this week that they were encouraged to register and vote by people they believed were associated with the organization. Those taking citizenship classes at Hermandad were registered to vote immediately after they passed their tests or had successfully completed an interview with an immigration official.