O.C. Registrar Plans to Query Suspected Noncitizen Voters

To determine whether ineligible voters are on the county’s rolls, the Orange County registrar of voters is drafting two letters to people suspected of signing up to vote when they were not citizens.

While registrar officials would not discuss how many people would be sent the letters, a spokeswoman for the state’s chief election official, Secretary of State Bill Jones, said that initially as many as 860 people could receive the notices.

Most of these people were identified during yearlong state and county investigations into allegations that noncitizens were improperly registered for the 1996 election. There are 1.2 million registered voters in Orange County.

Drafts of the letters ask recipients to complete a form and provide up-to-date information about their birthplace as well as naturalization information.

Those declining to answer will have their registrations canceled, according to the letters.

People who registered to vote prior to being sworn in as citizens would receive a registration affidavit and the opportunity to register properly, according to the letters.

Several Latino and Asian American activists have met with registrar officials and made suggestions on the wording of the letters, which would be sent by Registrar Rosalyn Lever. They described the letters as nonthreatening.

But several raised concerns about whether it is appropriate for the registrar to seek information, such as naturalization numbers and dates, that is not asked of others registering to vote.

In addition, Tony Chavez, of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said there remain concerns about the reliability of Immigration and Naturalization Service lists that were used to identify potential noncitizen voters. He also questioned the reliability of matching county and INS databases.

“To base voter registration decisions on information like this is like using a meat cleaver when you should be using a scalpel,” Chavez said.

Aides to Jones and Lever said that the letters aren’t finalized, and that concerns about requests for naturalization information will be addressed after talks with county counsel and community leaders.

The registrar will finalize the letters and determine who should receive them shortly, Deputy Registrar Don Taylor said.

“Once we evaluate information from both the district attorney and the secretary of state, we will then determine which individuals it would be appropriate to send letters to,” he said.

One letter is intended for people who might have registered and then became citizens later, Taylor said. The letter asks recipients to prove they registered properly by providing their naturalization number and date, or to submit a new voter registration form.

It advises them that “completing a new affidavit . . . is not an admission that you registered incorrectly” and states that the “goal” of the letter “is to ensure” proper registration for future elections.

The second letter is being sent to people who registered and apparently are not citizens. It also offers them a form on which they can provide information proving they are citizens.

Registrar officials met with Latino activists last week to ensure the letters were “not threatening or intimidating,” said Taylor.

“Any list could have mistakes on it,” he said. “We want to make sure the letters deal with it appropriately and sensitively.”

Among those at the meeting Thursday were Amin David, head of Los Amigos of Orange County; Zeke Hernandez, president of Orange County’s League of United Latin American Citizens; Juan Garcia of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional; Alberto Sandoval of the Republican Party’s minority outreach program, and Chavez of MALDEF. Last month, the registrar met with Asian Americans, including Michelle Chang of the Asian-Pacific Legal Center.

The registrar has already received a list of potential ineligible voters from Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, and will receive a separate list from Jones next week.

The district attorney’s list contains the names of 632 ineligible persons who were registered to vote by the Latino rights organization Hermandad, said Guy Ormes, the deputy district attorney in charge of special operations. About two-fifths of those people became citizens before the 1996 election.

Hermandad officials did not return a call for comment Tuesday. The group registered about 1,200 people for the 1996 election.

After a yearlong investigation, a grand jury did not indict anyone in connection with allegations that Hermandad registered noncitizens.

However, Capizzi said Tuesday he is working with the registrar to ensure that ineligible voters identified in the investigation are removed from the rolls.

In addition to the district attorney’s list, Lever will receive Jones’ list of 868 potential ineligible voters next week, said Beth Miller, spokeswoman for the secretary of state.

Jones’ list is expected to largely duplicate names on the district attorney’s list. In addition, there will be another 125 people who were released from jury duty in Orange County because they claimed they were not citizens. Voter registration rolls are one of the lists county officials use to select potential jurors.

Miller said all 868 names had been “checked and double-checked” by the INS and are either not citizens or were not citizens at the time they registered.

Los Angeles County last month also used juror questionnaires to remove 1,020 people from voter rolls after finding they claimed the noncitizen exemption from jury duty.

Jones has suggested to registrars statewide that they use a similar jury check to help find noncitizen voters.

Interest in Orange County in the accuracy of the voter rolls was prompted by allegations from former congressman Robert K. Dornan that his 984-vote loss to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) in 1996 was the result of voting by noncitizens and other irregularities.

Jones, a Republican, in October said “an initial match” of one-third of the county voter rolls with INS records had identified registration by 5,087 people who may not be citizens. Republicans in Congress also have claimed as many as 2,500 people may have voted in the Dornan-Sanchez election who were not eligible.

But none of those allegations have been backed up by the release of any verifiable names. Jones and congressional Republicans have said that the privacy rights of those in the INS files preclude the release of that information.

Jones’ aide Miller said the INS is doing additional verification of the 5,087 names on the list. The initial check matched first names, middle initials, last names and dates of birth, she said.