Latinos Who Vote Go To Jail

"You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."

So reads an intimidating letter sent in a mass mailing to an unknown number of Orange County Latinos. The mystery mailer, printed in Spanish and clearly meant to threaten, states that federal officers are keeping a searchable database that will allow the names of Latino voters to be turned over to anti-immigrant groups. The poison pen letters are obviously meant to affect elections for the 34th State Senate District, where Republicans have narrowed margins with the traditionally Democratic voting public. L.A.'s Democratic Senator, Gloria Romero, has asked California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to investigate the mailings, and the U.S. Department of Justice has also been asked to investigate. [ Read more about this breaking story ]