Noncitizens Removed From Voter Rolls
Four years after allegations that some immigrants were improperly registered to vote, election officials are wrapping up a protracted effort to remove noncitizens from the rolls.
An initial effort by the state purged the names of 561 noncitizens from the voter rolls in the 46th Congressional District. The second attempt, which is now winding up, has trimmed 330 more--with nine more expected to be deleted.
The effort followed charges in 1996 by former Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), who accused Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, a Latino civil rights group, of registering noncitizens to vote. Dornan lost a hotly contested race to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove).
A grand jury declined to file charges. The House Oversight Committee concluded a probe in 1988 without proof that enough noncitizens had voted in the district to make a difference in the outcome.
The committee concluded that it could prove only that 748 had voted illegally in the Dornan-Sanchez race--200 shy of Sanchez’s margin of victory.
State and county officials expect the saga to end within 60 days, when a review of the rolls is completed after the March election.
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