A political incident that targeted Latino voters in Orange County a decade ago has emerged as a key point of attack in the state treasurer's race.
Democratic candidate Phil Angelides has begun airing a TV ad blasting Republican foe Curt Pringle for his part in the 1988 episode in which Pringle's Assembly campaign and the county Republican Party placed uniformed security guards at some Santa Ana polling places.
The guards, including some who asked voters for identification, carried signs in English and Spanish warning: "Noncitizens can't vote." The incident prompted an FBI investigation and a civil rights lawsuit.
Without admitting any wrongdoing, Pringle and the local GOP agreed to pay $400,000 to settle the lawsuit. No criminal charges were filed.
In response, Pringle campaign consultant Sal Russo charges that the Angelides campaign is resorting to "sleazy" campaign tactics. He laid blame for the guards on the county GOP.
Pringle's campaign manager, Jeff Flint, said Pringle didn't know about the guards at the time "and would have stopped it if he knew."
Angelides said voters deserve to know Pringle's role in an act that was "contrary to the very notion of American democracy."
The ad coincides with an effort by a coalition of Latino and labor groups to spotlight the issue. On Thursday, the coalition began dispatching volunteers to primarily Latino neighborhoods across the state to remind voters about the poll-guard incident.
"The betrayal of democracy was so offensive that it raises serious doubts about [Pringle's] ability to serve in high public office," Miguel Contreras, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said in announcing the volunteer effort for the Nov. 3 election.
Until this month, Pringle had said little about the incident and dismissed it as part of his political past. When pushed about his role in the matter at a Sacramento debate earlier this month, Pringle denied that he knew or approved of the idea, and insisted that he had spoken out against it when he became aware of it.
On election day 1988, however, Pringle told reporters that he was aware that poll watchers would be used to monitor voting in his race but said he didn't know that they would be in uniform, something he said he didn't approve of.
