Arnold for president?

S.J. CAHN

Back in April, I put to rest a little rumor that Costa Mesa resident

and County Treasurer John Moorlach was thinking of running for

governor.

One of his reasons, he said, was that in 10 years, a Republican

governor of California would be in a perfect position to run for

president. And Moorlach, not being native-born, doesn’t qualify.

Yet.

A little-reported Senate proposal by Republican Orrin Hatch of

Utah would amend the Constitution. It reads, in part: “Section 1. A

person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been for 20

years a citizen of the United States, and who is otherwise eligible

to the Office of President, is not ineligible to that Office by

reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States.”

It’s reasonable to assume that Hatch did not have Moorlach in

mind. But given that the senator is buddies with a man who became a

citizen of the United States about 20 years ago and is running for

governor of California, it seems safe to assume that Hatch did have

Arnold Schwarzenegger in mind.

So today’s 12:30 p.m. rally at the Orange County Fairgrounds could

be a preview of national things to come.

Three-quarters of states would have to approve the amendment, of

course. But wide support -- from Republicans with Arnold on their

minds or recent immigrants who may be Democrats -- seems possible.

VOTING BY NUMBERS

Voting procedures were the talk of the recall briefly before the

9th Circuit Court of Appeals put an end to the election’s temporary

delay.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t remain an issue, even in

Newport-Mesa.

A small pocket of residents in county land just east of Costa

Mesa, for instance, won’t be going to the polls on Tuesday.

Because there are only 250 or fewer registered voters, they

automatically became a “mail ballot precinct.” Every registered voter

there received an absentee ballot.

The question, though, is whether those mailings were marked well

enough. Resident Charlotte Alexander says they weren’t, noting that

many of her neighbors threw the ballots out without realizing what

they were.

“If you’ve never voted absentee before, you’d have no reason to

keep it,” she said.

Alexander, herself, only figured out that the area wouldn’t have a

polling place when she called to find out when she’d hear about using

her garage as the site, as she has in the past.

“There should have been something large enough so you’d know not

to throw it out,” she said.

The ballot is identified as an official one, said Angela Burrell,

a spokeswoman for the Registrar.

Mail ballot precincts are relatively common, she added, and can

happen in “pretty much any election.”

This year, about 8,000 mail-only ballots have been sent out.

“It says it’s an official ballot,” Burrell said, adding that a

pamphlet inside the envelope talks about the mail ballot precinct.

She said county officials do rely on a certain amount of

responsibility from voters to read through such official paperwork.

Given the impasse, Corona del Mar resident Laura Dietz, who ran

for City Council last year, has a solution, even if unintended. She

pointed out in an e-mail a little-known piece to the voting puzzle:

emergency absentee voting.

This form, which cannot be processed through the mail, comes into

play during the final six days before an election. The voter, or a

representative of the voter, must turn the written application in to

the county registrar of voters, where an absentee ballot can be

picked up. That ballot then can be filled out and turned in to any

poll place in the area.

This form is available online at https://www.oc.ca.gov/election.

More information can be found at (714) 567-7600. The registrar’s

office is at 1300-C S. Grand Ave. in Santa Ana.

Alexander says she expects neighbors to pitch in for each other

and send a small posse to Santa Ana to get the neighborhood’s

ballots. Not that they’re happy about the inconvenience.

The registrar also is having early voting times this weekend,

Burrell said. The times are from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and from 8

a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at [email protected].