April 10, 2006

Voter Fraud Charges Probed

"Investigators for California's attorney general and secretary of state have launched an inquiry into allegations of voter registration fraud in Orange and Riverside counties, state officials said Friday.

The investigation comes a month after the California Republican Party suspended its paid voter registration program, following the discovery by elections officials in Orange and San Bernardino counties of thousands of flawed registration forms submitted by private firms the county parties had hired.

Elections officials turned over those forms to local prosecutors and the secretary of state. The state Democratic Party requested that the attorney general investigate, calling the allegations "even more disturbing than first thought."

A statement released Friday by the California Republican Party said it welcomed the inquiry and that "one instance of voter fraud is one too many and any suggestion of voter fraud must be investigated."

Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties have recently received complaints from residents who said they had been improperly registered as Republicans, elections officials said.

It was unclear Friday whether the allegations in Riverside County stemmed from those complaints. "To my knowledge, we don't have any gross irregularities in our registrations in Riverside County," said county Registrar Barbara Dunmore.

Orange County officials did not return phone calls seeking comment. The San Bernardino County district attorney's office has chosen to head its own investigation, though there appears to be "significant overlap" in the conduct of signature-gatherers in the three counties, said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer."

Posted by Randy Riddle at April 10, 2006 09:04 AM