Orange County Supervisors narrowly shot down calls from their colleagues to settle a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice and order the county’s top elections official to hand over 17 people’s voting data to prosecutors amid a probe of alleged noncitizen voting.
[Read: U.S. Attorney Sues OC for Voter Records in Probe of Alleged Noncitizen Voting]
The request comes amid concerns that the 17 people in question – all of whom county election officials say have been purged from voter rolls – could’ve improperly voted after their names showed up on rolls, despite not being eligible to vote.
The lawsuit came after federal prosecutors rejected the county’s proposal to hand over redacted files that included the voters’ names and home addresses, with County Counsel Leon Page arguing it would be illegal to hand over without a court order.
“There hasn’t yet been a formal demand from DOJ to produce documents,” Page said during Tuesday’s OC Board of Supervisors meeting.
But Supervisors Don Wagner and Janet Nguyen – the two Republicans on the board – argued they should not block the request by the federal government, and that it makes people raise questions.
“We should not litigate a case like this if we have nothing to hide,” Wagner said. “We are thumbing our noses at the federal government … in this environment, not a good look for us.”
Nguyen said the fight would continue dragging on and encouraged staff to ramp up their cleaning and purging of voter rolls.
“What it really comes down to is what’re you hiding over there?” Nguyen said. “We are not going to end up completely right on this. I just don’t see it. We’re not flawless.”
But the three Democrats on the board – Chairman Doug Chaffee, Supervisor Katrina Foley and Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento – pushed back on their colleagues, voting against their colleagues’ proposal to settle the lawsuit.
Foley encouraged federal prosecutors to formally request the information via a court order or agree to a confidentiality agreement like the one between District Attorney Todd Spitzer and the registrar’s office to access the information.
“You don’t have the authority to disclose it even if you wanted to,” Foley said. “The way this gets resolved is simply for the court to order the disclosure, which I suspect will happen or not, imminently.”
She also pointed out that the county wasn’t hiding anything, and had already offered the information to prosecutors so long as they kept it confidential.
“What’s there to hide? The name was provided right? The address was provided?” Foley said. “I don’t see what there is to hide, it’s just simply complying with state and federal law.”
Supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Doug Chaffee also voted against ending the lawsuit, with Chaffee raising concerns about violating the 17 individuals’ right to privacy.
“They gave under a confidentiality assumption,” Chaffee said. “I don’t know how we can give confidential information out without their consent.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page said they’re working to update the voter rolls constantly, with an average of 80,000 changes per month as people die, move, go to jail, or register for the first time.
Bob also highlighted how state and federal laws prohibit him from turning over the information, and that federal prosecutors have not pointed to a law giving them access to the information.
“The DOJ has not in any writings or in the complaint indicated they have any specific right to access sensitive information.”
Minutes after the vote, Wagner put out a statement calling out board members who voted against settling the lawsuit.
“I’m disappointed that a majority of my colleagues have refused to join Supervisor Nguyen and me in this common-sense effort to avoid a protracted legal battle with the federal government,” Wagner wrote. “California law may not prize election integrity, but Orange County should.”
A few hours later, Foley put out a statement reaffirming that it wasn’t up to the board.
“County Counsel advised that the Board has no authority to direct this litigation,” Foley said. “I’d prefer to await a court order and to comply with state and federal law.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.