New INS Check of Voters: 18,000 Matches, but . . .

WASHINGTON — The INS disclosed Wednesday that preliminary computer checks of Orange County’s 1.3 million voters--using the first and last names and dates of birth--may have matched 18,000 noncitizens in the agency’s database at the time of last November’s election.

However, the INS placed little importance on the new number, just as it did last week when it came up with an earlier figure of 500,000, claiming that only a manual review of the agency’s records can determine whether the names in their computers are in fact the people who registered to vote in Orange County.

Last week, INS officials told the House Oversight Committee, which is reviewing former Congressman Robert K. Dornan’s charges of voter fraud, that a computer run of last names only and dates of birth turned up more than 500,000 matches with the county’s voter rolls.

The INS turned over to the panel only the results of the “last name” search, because that is what the committee subpoenaed, said INS spokesman Eric Andrus. The preliminary searches using more detailed information were conducted for internal use.

Andrus said that whether the number is 500,000 or 18,000, the INS data is too incomplete to answer the panel’s basic question: How many noncitizens voted in the 46th Congressional District race last November?

The answer is important for the committee to determine whether the outcome of the race would have been different if illegal voters had not cast ballots.

Dornan contends election fraud caused him to lose the 46th congressional seat to Democrat Loretta Sanchez by 984 votes.

“This can only be answered by a file review which looks at each name on a case-by-case basis,” said Andrus, the INS spokesman.

The INS conducted the initial computer runs before submitting its report to the House panel, to better gauge how long and at what cost it would take for the agency to check its national citizenship database against Orange County voters as part of the Dornan-Sanchez election contest, Andrus said.

The INS spokesman wouldn’t confirm the exact number of the new calculation but said he believed one of the computer checks came up with 18,000 matches when agency staffers tested first and last names and dates of birth in their files against local voter rolls.

The immigration agency has asked the committee to narrow its search to the 173,000 voters in the congressional district. The laborious process of checking by hand each record of voters countywide would take months, INS officials have said.

Dornan’s attorney, William Hart, said Dornan’s case can be proved if the committee can further refine INS’ preliminary conclusions.

“If these numbers are accurate, then we are well on our way to a new election in the 46th Congressional District, in my opinion, but I want to reserve any judgment . . . until the committee is finished with its important work,” Hart said.

But Sanchez chief of staff Steve Jost echoed the INS’ reservation about the accuracy of the data.

“When you subtract duplicate errors and people who changed their names or married or moved or are no longer residents in Orange County or who didn’t vote, then maybe we’ll get down to a real number [of illegal voters], like 19,” Jost said.