Don't vote! Options

[pebkac]

Wow... now this is just tacky.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/104154...etter20.article

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. -- Orange County Republican leaders on Thursday called for the withdrawal of a GOP congressional candidate they think sent a letter threatening Hispanic immigrant voters with arrest.
Tan D. Nguyen denied knowing anything about the letter Thursday but said he fired a campaign staffer who may have been responsible for it.

County Republican Chairman Scott Baugh, however, said that after speaking with state investigators and the company that distributed the mailer, he thinks Nguyen had direct knowledge of the ''obnoxious and reprehensible'' letter. He said the party's executive committee voted unanimously to urge Nguyen to drop out of the race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez.

''I learned information that allows me to draw the conclusion that not only was Mr. Nguyen's campaign involved in this, but that Mr. Nguyen was personally involved in expediting the mailer,'' Baugh said.

State and federal officials were investigating the letter, which was written in Spanish and mailed to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters in central Orange County. It warns, ''You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time.''

Immigrants who are adult naturalized citizens are eligible to vote.


'I did not do this'
Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant whose opposition to illegal immigration has figured heavily in his underdog campaign, was not immediately available to react to the committee's vote.
Earlier Thursday, he said, ''I did not do this. I did not approve of any letter.''

Nguyen said he has fired an employee in his office who might have used his campaign's voter data base to send the letter without his knowledge. He said he was cooperating with authorities and planned to continue his campaign.

Orange County is an immigration battleground. A founder of the Minuteman civilian border patrol group ran for Congress here, and cities have debated issues such as public centers for day laborers and the use of local police to arrest illegal immigrants.

Complaints about the letters this week prompted a state probe. U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Cynthia Magnuson said the department's civil rights division also was investigating in coordination with the state attorney general's office.

Many political leaders denounced the letter, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

''If it is proven that a candidate was responsible for this action, that candidate is clearly not fit to serve the people of California and should withdraw immediately from his or her race,'' California GOP Chairman Duf Sundheim said. AP