Group Sues to Block Lopez Recall Election

A Latino rights organization sued Thursday to block the recall election of a Santa Ana school board member, contending that petitions aimed at ousting him for his alleged advocacy of bilingual education were circulated only in English in the heavily Latino city.

Attorneys for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund allege that the Orange County registrar of voters violated the rights of non-English-speaking residents by approving the petitions in only one language.

Recall supporters circulated petitions to recall trustee Nativo V. Lopez this year in Santa Ana, where about three-quarters of the population speaks Spanish. The registrar determined they had submitted enough valid signatures to put the question to voters.

A special election is set for Feb. 4.

“By failing to provide recall petition materials in Spanish, Orange County is, in effect, telling Spanish-speaking Latinos and other persons not proficient in English that they aren’t welcome to participate in certain critical portions of the political process,” lawyer Steven Reyes said. “It goes beyond just the recall of Mr. Lopez.”

The federal Voting Rights Act calls for voting materials to be provided in languages other than English in communities with significant numbers of non-English speakers. But it wasn’t clear Thursday whether that includes petitions circulated by citizens.

“It is a very interesting use of the law,” said Morgan Kousser, a Caltech history professor and author of “Color Blind Injustice,” a book on the history of voting rights.

Orange County Registrar of Voters Rosalyn Lever could not be reached for comment Thursday, but recall backers in the 62,000-student Santa Ana Unified School District reacted with anger and disbelief.

“It is another heavy-handed tactic to try and stop the inevitable,” said Vivian Martinez, a district parent who filed for the recall with other parents and citizens. “Let the voters decide and leave it at that.”

Martinez, who is a candidate in the February election to replace Lopez, said recall organizers did not circulate petitions in Spanish because they were not told it was necessary.

Tim Whitacre, another recall supporter, said simply: “English is our primary language.”

Lopez said he is fighting for the rights of those who may not be fluent in English.

“That’s why we have the Voting Rights Act,” he said Thursday of the MALDEF suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. “To protect secondary languages and to ensure the rights of U.S. citizens and voters whose primary language is not English.”