ORANGE, Calif. - The ACLU of Southern California asked Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and Orange County Registrar Neal Kelley to immediately correct the damaging letter sent to thousands of registered voters in Orange County earlier this month.
In a letter to election officials, ACLU/SC Orange County director Hector Villagra urged that a corrected letter be sent immediately to affected residents before the Nov. 7 election.
'The potential damage misinformation like this can cause is incalculable,' Villagra said. 'For all citizens, voting is a cornerstone of the American experience. When you tell immigrants who have become citizens they can go to jail for voting, you are spreading lies, not liberty.'
The letter states: 'The ACLU/SC is pleased that a thorough investigation has been ordered and that those involved will be held accountable.' It goes on to say that such an investigation 'does not address the harm the letter has already done by misinforming thousands of naturalized citizens that they will be jailed and deported for exercising their fundamental right to vote,' Villagra wrote to election officials.
