MercuryNews.com | 10/27/2004 | Voters guide for immigrants stirs debate

Posted on Wed, Oct. 27, 2004

Voters guide for immigrants stirs debate

ORGANIZERS CLAIM TO BE NON-PARTISAN, BUT SUGGESTIONS SIDE WITH DEMOCRATS

By Edwin Garcia

Mercury News

Hoping to decipher the state's perplexing ballot propositions, a coalition of advocacy groups has published an unprecedented ``immigrant voters guide'' for tens of thousands of foreign-born citizens across California.

But while the coalition claims to be non-partisan, its guide might create a different impression: The recommendations side 100 percent with the official position of the state Democratic Party.

``It's ridiculous,'' said Nhut Ho, an alternate member of the Santa Clara County Republican Central Committee, and Vietnam native. He said the guide incorrectly characterizes all immigrants as Democrats.

Some local and state Republican leaders are questioning how the coalition came to its conclusions.

``It sounds more like a coordinated campaign with the Democrats,'' said Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, a Republican who represents Imperial County along the border with Mexico.

A spokeswoman for the coalition that produced the guide in six languages strongly denies any such connection to the Democratic Party.
``Our tax-exempt status prohibits us from doing any partisan work,'' said Larisa Casillas, who oversaw the guide's development for the Northern California Citizenship Project, based in San Francisco. ``We're able to take positions on issues, but we can't take positions on particular parties or candidates,'' she said.

The guide focuses on eight of the state's 16 measures on Tuesday's ballot.

It recommends a ``yes'' vote on Proposition 66, the measure to ease sentencing requirements for ``three strikes'' criminals, because ``immigrants and people of color are disproportionately sentenced.'' The guide suggests ``yes'' on Proposition 72, which seeks to order more businesses to provide health care for workers.

The state Republican Party recommends a ``no'' vote on both.

While the guide's recommendations are identical to the platform promoted by the Democrats, three of its positions are shared by both parties.

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