GOP Members of Voter Probe Offer to Defer to State Official

Republicans on Wednesday proposed handing a key part of their investigation into Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s contested victory in Orange County’s 46th Congressional District to California Secretary of State Bill Jones, saying it would speed up the process and remove it from Capitol Hill’s partisan battlefield.

But the political bickering that has characterized the 11-month-old inquiry persisted, as congressional Democrats refused to sign on to the deal. Under the proposal, Jones would review data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and have the final say on how many votes in the district were cast by noncitizens and therefore should not have been counted.

Also, a Democratic source said the party’s House leadership decided Wednesday night to formally demand a dismissal--perhaps as early as today--of the election challenge filed by Robert K. Dornan, the fiery Republican incumbent whom Sanchez defeated by 984 votes.

Democrats, particularly members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, complained that the INS information Jones is being asked by House Oversight Committee Chairman William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield) to review cannot be relied upon to determine citizenship status at the time people registered to vote. Further, they said increased circulation of the INS data among government officials would violate people’s rights of privacy.

“This is the same flawed process we’ve complained about since Day One,” Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), said at a news conference less than two hours after the GOP offer. “If it’s flawed, no matter what [Jones] comes up with, it’s still flawed. He can’t make it any better.”

Thomas and his fellow congressional Republicans have acknowledged that the INS data are incomplete, but they insist it can reveal whether documented immigrants had obtained U.S. citizenship before registering to vote.

The Republicans previously had said they would ask Jones’ office and INS staff members in Southern California to review and verify a list of suspected illegal voters that the committee has compiled. But Thomas went further Wednesday, saying he would accept their findings as the final decision on the issue because those officials are experts who deal with issues of citizenship and voter eligibility “every day.”

The committee would still investigate other issues, such as unanswered subpoena requests, Thomas said.

The Republicans refused to say how many people are on the list they would like to submit to Jones, but Thomas indicated it was fewer than 4,500.

Aides to Jones--a Republican who has already conducted a separate investigation into the illegal registering of noncitizens by third-party organizations in Orange County during the 1996 campaign--said he is ready to step in and would provide members of both parties with updates as he reviews the data.

“We certainly have a stake in ensuring the integrity of the election process while protecting the privacy of everyone involved,” said Alfie Charles, a spokesman for Jones. “Our bottom line is to ensure a fraud-free election system.”

Thomas on Wednesday also offered his first hint that the end of the investigation may be in sight, saying the new approach could wrap up the matter within three or four weeks.

But in rejecting the deal, congressional Democratic leaders promised to unleash a new assault next week that would include nationwide protests about the investigation, as well as a barrage of procedural techniques aimed at derailing business on the House floor.

Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), whose discussions of the case with Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) last month apparently triggered the GOP proposal, rejected the deal as “totally unacceptable and inappropriate” and renewed his demand for an immediate halt to the probe.

“Mr. Dornan has had nearly a year to prove that Rep. Sanchez did not win this election--he has utterly failed to do so,” Gephardt said in a written statement. “I’m from Missouri, the Show-Me state. If Mr. Thomas can prove his case, than I ask him to produce his evidence immediately.”