House Panel Asks State for Analysis of Sanchez Ballots

Citing a “substantial number of potentially illegally registered voters and illegal votes cast,” congressional investigators have asked state officials to analyze a list of Orange County ballots in last fall’s election that House officials believe should be invalidated, according to documents obtained Tuesday by The Times.

The investigation involves the contested election of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), who defeated then-Congressman Robert K. Dornan by 984 votes last year.

Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, asked California Secretary of State Bill Jones to “review, analyze and verify” a packet of confidential information on suspected illegal voters last week. Sources in Jones’ and Thomas’ offices refused to say how many “potentially illegally registered voters” were covered by the material, or whether it would be enough to overturn Sanchez’s election if all names on the list were confirmed.

Jones, in fact, has so far declined to help Thomas, citing the privacy of Immigration and Naturalization Service records and potential prosecution of his staff by the Department of Justice.

“I am pleased to assist you and your Committee and to review and analyze the results of your investigation in my capacity as California’s chief elections officer,” Jones wrote to Thomas last Thursday. “However, before beginning this important undertaking, I want to ensure that my participation is in full and complete compliance with both federal and California law.”

The letters, obtained on the eve of an oversight panel hearing scheduled for today, were the first indication that the committee’s probe of the election challenge filed by Dornan could be nearing a conclusion, with Jones referring to “results.” Republicans on Capitol Hill were gearing for a major announcement.

“Data is mounting. . . . It is increasingly more clear and irrefutable” that there was fraud in the election, House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) said in a press conference Tuesday. “Democrats still live in abject horror that the facts will be known.”

Pressed for more detail, Armey refused to clarify what he meant. Aides to Thomas also continued to insist Tuesday that they have not finished cross-checking Orange County’s voter rolls with seven INS databases that include information on whether individuals are citizens and therefore eligible to vote.

“There will be no number” announced at today’s hearing, said committee spokesman Jason Poblete. “We don’t have a number yet.”

Meanwhile, Sanchez on Tuesday tried to fire a preemptive strike against any announcement by the Republican-controlled Oversight Committee, circulating a letter to her congressional colleagues that purports to show 62 House members illegally voting in her district last fall.

Sanchez’s staff cross-referenced a list of House members’ names with a database of the 173,000 voters registered in her district and found that 139 Orange County voters shared the names of 62 sitting Congress members, including four people with the name William Thomas, Sanchez’s nemesis in the voter fraud investigation.

“Preposterous, you say. Well, I agree. However, the methodology used in this computer match is every bit as valid as the search by the Republicans,” Sanchez wrote. “Frankly, this exercise is more of a parlor game about common names in this country. The scientific validity of the INS search would not pass muster even in a 6th grade Science Fair competition.”

But Sanchez’s database analysis fell short of the Oversight Committee’s in at least one crucial way: She compared just first and last names, while congressional investigators are checking birth dates and middle initials as well. Sanchez chief of staff Steve Jost said he did not have birth dates of House members handy.

Sanchez also did not compare the names of House members with INS databases, which the Oversight Committee is attempting to do by matching the INS records against the Orange County voter rolls to determine how many noncitizens fraudulently voted in the election.

In a related development Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor ruled that a host of subpoenas issued by Dornan and the Oversight Committee are constitutional and valid. Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, the Santa Ana civil rights group accused of illegally registering noncitizens to vote in the 1996 election, had contested the validity of the subpoenas.

“We are pleased that Judge Taylor has rejected Loretta Sanchez’s most recent frivolous attempt to block the investigation into the voter fraud that occurred in her election,” said Michael J. Schroeder, Dornan’s attorney and chairman of the California Republican Party. “We now look forward to bringing this matter to a speedy conclusion.”

Sanchez’s attorney disagreed.

“What is very interesting is [Taylor] is recognizing that this is a novel issue in which there could be a substantial difference of opinion and advises Sanchez to appeal to the circuit court,” said Fred Woocher, an attorney for Sanchez.

Wilgoren reported from Washington and Warren from Santa Ana. Times staff writer Janet Hook also contributed to this report.