Poll Guard Dispute Heats Up Again : Claim of Early Exit Challenged

A Santa Ana man who said a uniformed guard challenged his citizenship at a polling place late in the day Nov. 8 has raised a question about when the guards were removed from precincts by the Orange County Republican Party.

The party, which paid $4,000 for 20 private guards at 20 Santa Ana precincts because it feared voter fraud in a key Assembly district, said all the guards were removed by midday at the request of the county registrar of voters, Donald F. Tanney.

But Rumaldo H. Madrid, who was born in the United States and is of Latino descent, said a uniformed guard confronted him at about 5 or 6 p.m. as he approached his polling place at St. Joseph’s School in Santa Ana. Madrid said he became so angry that he returned home without voting.

The hiring of guards touched off a major uproar that embarrassed the county GOP and was strongly criticized within the Republican Party itself. Several Latino and labor organizations have since filed suit to overturn the results of the election in the 72nd Assembly District, where all 20 of the largely Latino precincts are. On Monday, Madrid was added as a plaintiff to the lawsuit.

The county district attorney’s office and the FBI are investigating whether any state or federal laws regarding intimidation or harassment of voters were violated.

In the 72nd District, Republican Curt Pringle of Garden Grove beat Democrat Christian F. (Rick) Thierbach of Anaheim by just 867 votes after a bitter, $2-million battle. Pringle’s campaign consultant, Carlos Rodriguez, who asked county GOP Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes to authorize hiring the guards, also is a defendant in the lawsuit, as is Fuentes.

The executive director of the county Republican Party, Greg Haskin, said Tuesday that the security firm hired by the GOP began pulling the guards out of the precincts at about 10 a.m. on Election Day. He said the person responsible for assigning the guards went to each polling place and told the guards to return to their company offices.

“Our understanding is they were all out of there by noon,” Haskin said.

Attorney for Guard Firm

James D. Henderson, attorney for Saddleback Security of Mission Viejo--which supplied the guards and also is a defendant in the lawsuit--said he was told that the guard at St. Joseph’s School left by 1:15 p.m. “and did not return.”

This was confirmed by Sister Michelle, principal of the school, who said she and others there recalled that the guard was inside the polling place at about the time of the 10:30 a.m. recess and gone by lunchtime. She said she was not aware of any other guard outside.

Kathleen J. Purcell, the San Francisco attorney who is preparing the lawsuit against the Republican Party, said Madrid was “not the only person who indicated to us that guards were there later in the afternoon.”

“We all thought they were out (by midday), and I’m not sure that was true,” she said. “In terms of the presentation, the uniforms, the whole bit, it appears to be the same program.”

Question About Citizenship

Madrid, 62, said that as he walked toward St. Joseph’s School, a man wearing street clothes approached and asked Madrid whether he was registered to vote and a U.S. citizen.

“That’s when I said, ‘What the hell is going on? Who the hell am I talking to?’ ” said Madrid, who said he had not missed voting in 40 years except the 6 years he was in the U.S. Army.

At that point, he said, a uniformed guard “came up like he was a football player, walking real fast” and asked Madrid for proof of his citizenship.

Madrid said the guard then turned to the other man and said, “Anybody can say they’re an American citizen. Any body.”

Madrid said he became so angry that he decided not to vote after warning the guard that he “would hear about this.”

Madrid said the next day he made several calls to report the incident, including one to Santa Ana City Councilman John Acosta. Eventually, he learned of the lawsuit.

“I was very upset--I had never been approached like that,” Madrid said, explaining his decision to join the lawsuit.

Intended to Vote for Pringle

Madrid, a registered Democrat who voted twice for Ronald Reagan for President, said he had intended to vote for Democrat Michael S. Dukakis for President and Republican Pringle for the Assembly.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade said the investigation of the incident is proceeding.

“We’re doing it in conjunction with the FBI . . . so it will probably take longer than it ordinarily would if just one agency were on it,” Wade said.