Hermandad Should Own Up

The recent protest demonstration organized by the Hermandad Mexicana Nacional erased any notion I maintained that they were a legitimate Latino rights organization (“300 Protest at Times Offices Over Coverage of Sanchez-Dornan Race,” Jan. 12).

A legitimate rights organization for immigrants would have taken the rather objective evidence of voter fraud more seriously, expressed an apologetic attitude and announced objective steps to deter such fraud in future elections.

The position taken, however, is to protest against those who have exposed their fraudulent conduct in the apparent hope of intimidating any such future criticism. It appears as though this organization believes they can operate in this country without following the rules.

A fundamental understanding of how people think would tell [Nativo] Lopez, [executive director of Hermandad’s Orange County office], that most of the population is not impressed.

C. LARRY FANCHER

La Habra

* Your Dec. 31 editorial, “Voting--the Sacred Trust,” is right on because if one person votes unlawfully then the entire election process stands to lose its credibility and will further erode our faith in democracy.

According to election laws, a person who helps to register anyone unlawfully to vote is equally liable, especially when a person has something to gain. At issue is whether Nativo Lopez had a personal interest in registering people even though they weren’t eligible yet. The answer is quite clear: Lopez wanted to win a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School District board so bad that he bypassed all rules and laws of the game.

Lopez, the Hermandad Mexicana Nacional executive director, should ‘fess up to his responsibility and resign immediately for the good of his organization and of the Latino community. These shenanigans in this past election should never be tolerated under any circumstances.

JAIME VEGA RODRIGUEZ

Santa Ana

The writer was an unsuccessful candidate for the Santa Ana Unified School District board in the November election.