Democrats Protest Handling of Contested Election Cases

WASHINGTON — Monkey wrenches are flying on both sides of the Capitol, as Democrats in the House and Senate have deployed delaying tactics to protest GOP handling of two contested elections--including that of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove).

House Democrats on Thursday threatened to block adjournment of Congress this fall unless Republicans ditch an investigation of alleged voter fraud in Sanchez’s 1996 victory over then-incumbent Robert K. Dornan. The threat came as Dornan returned to Capitol Hill to take his case directly to his former House colleagues.

“I will now be a regular visitor on the House floor,” Dornan told reporters. “Today’s the comeback trail.”

On the other side of the Capitol, Democrats brought the Senate to a temporary standstill Thursday in an effort to end a lengthy investigation of alleged irregularities in the election of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

If they continue, the stalling tactics may make it harder for Congress to wrap up the year’s work quickly, as some Republicans want. That would give their members more time to go home and trumpet their legislative achievements.

“It’s in the best interest of the American people that we go ahead and finish the people’s business with as little controversy and contention as possible,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-La.).

Sanchez’s victory--by a mere 984 votes--has been under scrutiny since early this year by the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating allegations that noncitizen voting and other irregularities contributed to Dornan’s defeat.

Democrats have accused the GOP of dragging out the probe to weaken Sanchez. House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) told reporters Thursday that if the committee does not dismiss the allegations, Democrats would try to foil GOP plans to adjourn.

“We’re not going to let them leave until this contest has been dismissed,” Gephardt said. In the meantime, he said, some Democrats may try to disrupt House proceedings by demanding time-consuming roll call votes on routine matters.

Gephardt had endorsed such tactics in July, but now says that threatening to block adjournment may be more effective.

Republicans say they are not unduly prolonging the probe, but that investigators need more time to pore through volumes of information provided by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to help identify illegal voters.

Dornan brought his case directly to Capitol Hill on Thursday, when he met privately with House Republicans from California. And he used his privileges as a former member of Congress to go onto the House floor, where he buttonholed other GOP representatives.

Dornan said he believed that the House investigation had identified enough illegal votes to invalidate the election and force another round of balloting. But a spokesman for House Oversight Committee Chairman William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield) said the investigation was still underway, with “no end game plan in sight.”

In the Senate, the Rules Committee is investigating allegations of voter fraud in Landrieu’s 1996 election over Republican Woody Jenkins. Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the committee, said investigators are sifting through cartons of records subpoenaed in August.

“We are proceeding as expeditiously as we can,” Warner said. “I think we can complete this in the third week of September.”

But Democrats accuse the GOP of foot-dragging, and in protest Thursday invoked an obscure rule that prohibits committees from meeting while the full Senate is in session. In response, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) shut down the Senate for most of the afternoon so committees could meet.

Lott accused the Democrats of playing political games that will hold up essential legislation--and the investigation itself.

“This is not the way to get the investigation by the Rules Committee concluded,” Lott said. “It will probably delay it.”

But Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said Democrats would continue the ploy for the foreseeable future. “We have no other recourse,” he said.