Republicans Seek to Give Part of Election Probe to State

Republicans on Wednesday proposed handing a key part of their investigation of Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s contested victory in Orange County’s 46th Congressional District to California Secretary of State Bill Jones, saying that 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 investigation persisted, as congressional Democrats refused to approve the deal in which Jones would review INS data and have final say over 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 data that Jones is being asked by House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Bill 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 right to privacy.

“This is the same flawed process we’ve complained about since Day 1,” Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), said at a news conference.

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

Thomas said Wednesday that he would accept the findings of Jones’ office and INS staff members in Southern California as the final decision on the issue because they are experts who deal with issues of citizenship and voter eligibility every day.

But in rejecting the deal, congressional Democratic leaders also promised to unleash a new assault next week that would include nationwide protests about the investigation.