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Home > Press Room > 2006 > Press Release
Press Release
LULAC Asks Attorney General To
Investigate Voter Intimidation Incidents Nationwide.
Voters
should not be afraid to go to the polls this midterm election
season.
October 18, 2006
Contact:
Lizette Jenness Olmos
(202) 833-6130 ext.16
LJOlmos@LULAC.org
Washington, DC – The League of
United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in
conjunction with 21 other Latino and Asian
American organizations submitted a letter
Tuesday (see below) requesting that the U.S.
Attorney General conduct a federal investigation
into the most recent scare tactics being used to
intimidate voters in Orange County, California.
LULAC is seeking an investigation into
widespread reports of voter intimidation across
the country. The FBI has already begun an
investigation into the matter and state Attorney
General Bill Lockyer has been urged by
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to
prosecute those responsible to the fullest
extent of the law. The letter disseminated by
the California Coalition for Immigration Reform
targeted immigrant voters with Latino surnames
warning them that it is a crime for immigrants
to vote in the elections.
“This letter is clearly aimed
at keeping eligible Latinos from exercising
their right to vote in this country. It is a
violation of the Voting Rights Act and the
California Elections Code and we will not stand
for it,” said National LULAC President Rosa
Rosales. “They have violated the law in an
attempt to intimidate voters. LULAC will fight
to preserve everyone’s right to vote. Our
attorneys are ready to take action against voter
intimidation wherever it may occur.”
“The entire Southwest
including portions of California has a history
of voter intimidation by those who use fear,
hatred and physical attacks to stop people from
voting. State and federal law prohibit this kind
of activity,” said National LULAC General
Counsel Luis Vera.
This type of voter
intimidation tactic is not new to Southern
California or Barbara Coe and the California
Coalition for Immigration Reform. The same
letters circulated are similar to the ones sent
out in 1990.
The League of United Latin
American Citizens, the oldest and largest Latino
membership organization in the country, advances
the economic conditions, educational attainment,
political influence, health and civil rights of
Hispanic Americans through community-based
programs operating at more than 700 LULAC
councils nationwide.
See samples
of the letters:
letter 1,
letter 2,
letter 3,
letter 4,
letter 5,
letter 6,
envelope 1,
envelopes 2,
envelopes 3,
envelopes 4.
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