State Opens Probe of Voter Rolls

California Secretary of State Bill Jones has opened an investigation of possible illegal voter registration in Los Angeles County by an embattled Latino social services organization, authorities said Wednesday.

The inquiry into Hermandad Mexicana Nacional followed a Times article Sunday reporting that 46 noncitizens said they registered to vote with the group’s assistance.

Hermandad’s voter-registration activities in Orange County are already under investigation by Jones.

“Our investigation of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional is an ongoing investigation,” said Beth Miller, a spokeswoman for Jones. “We will be looking at all aspects of the organization and their activity regarding voter registration.”

Bert Corona, the agency’s executive director, did not return a telephone call Wednesday. Previous attempts to reach Corona for comment on the allegations of illegal registration have been unsuccessful.

Conny McCormack, registrar-recorder/county clerk, notified the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors of the investigation in a memo Wednesday.

“The Secretary of State will conduct an investigation and provide the findings to the District Attorney’s office,” McCormack wrote in the memo. “Based upon the evidence accumulated, the District Attorney will proceed with prosecution, if warranted.”

State law prohibits anyone other than U.S. citizens from registering to vote, and prohibits anyone from causing or procuring illegal registrations.

In the memo, McCormack said she had reviewed The Times story with Allen Field, director of the district attorney’s bureau of special operations, and Jim Sweeney, chief counsel for the secretary of state’s office.

McCormack, Field and Sweeney, who is heading the Orange County investigation of allegations that Hermandad registered more than 700 noncitizens to vote, agreed the state should investigate any evidence of problems in Los Angeles County.

The county registrar’s office will make copies of 431 voter-registration forms completed by people who received their forms from Hermandad workers and submit them to the secretary of state’s investigative division, authorities said.

“We all talked about it,” McCormack said in an interview. “We thought that was the best approach.”

The Times spoke to more than half of the 431 people registered in Los Angeles County by the agency since 1994.

Some people said they had no problems with Hermandad. Others could not remember the chronology of events or declined to tell of their experiences. Many could not be reached.

Each of the 46 immigrants who said they registered to vote before they were legally eligible to do so also said they were encouraged to register by Hermandad workers.

Each of them said they were unaware they were not qualified to register, and added they would not have done so if they had known it was illegal.

The 50-year-old social service agency offers civics classes to prepare immigrants for written and oral examinations administered by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service before they become citizens. The agency is one of the state’s largest providers of English and citizenship classes, instructing thousands at more than 70 sites.

After earlier reports of illegal registrations in March, Corona said employees and clients were told that registration could not occur until after the oath of allegiance was taken. Eagerness or misunderstandings may have caused some mistakes, he said at that time.

In Orange County, Jones, the secretary of state, said more than 700 people had registered to vote unlawfully on cards provided by Hermandad last year. More than 440 if those residents voted in the November general election, he said.

Miller and McCormack said it was unclear how soon results would be available from the Los Angeles County investigation.

“I feel like we all have a plan,” McCormack said. “They’ll be on it immediately.”