Difference between revisions 458766774 and 458922856 on enwiki

{{POV|date=October 2011}}
'''Tan Duc Nguyen''' (born 1973) was a two-time candidate for the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] in [[California]].  In 2004, he sought the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] nomination to run against incumbent [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Dana Rohrabacher]] in [[California's 46th congressional district]].  In 2006, he ran as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Repu(contracted; show full)

===Campaign mailing controversy===

Nguyen's campaign was linked to a Spanish-language mailing of 14,000 letters allegedly warning immigrants not to vote, threatening them with prison or deportation. The letter was received by registered Hispanic voters the weekend of October 15, 2006 and sent to the then-State Attorney General Bill Lockyer. On Monday, October 17, 2006 the California State Attorney General launched an investigation into the source of the letter.
 The Republican Party was linked with the campaign of former Congressman Curt Pringle who, on Election Day, had poll guards at voting booths in Hispanic neighborhoods warning them not to vote.<ref>{{cite news|title=Candidate who sent immigration flier urged to quit| | work=⏎
⏎
  Daily Breeze |location=Torrance, Calif|date=20 Oct 2006|page=1}}</ref> One of the first Hispanic registered voters who came forward showing the letter he had received was Benny Diaz who lived in Garden Grove, California in the Congressional District of Loretta Sanchez.<ref>{{cite news|title=Local GOP pulls support for party's candidate / He's linked to letter saying immigrants can't legally vote|author=Gledhill, Lynda|work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=20 Oct 2006|page=1}}</ref> As translated in the press at the time, it read in part<ref>[http://www.theliberaloc.com/pdf/theletter.pdf Spanish-language mailing linked to Tan Nguyen campaign]</ref> As translated in the press at the time, it read in part:

:You are being sent this letter because you were recently registered to vote. If you are a citizen of the United States, we ask that you participate in the democratic process of voting. 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 imprisonment, and you will be deported for voting without having the right to do so.<ref>{{cite news|first=Norberto, Jr |last=Santana |url=http://www.ocregister.com/(contracted; show full) agents raided Nguyen's campaign headquarters in [[Garden Grove, California|Garden Grove]] and his home in [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Jennifer; Goffard, Christopher and Tran, Mai |last=Delson |url=http://www.latimes.com/la-me-letter21oct21,0,7524703.story?track=mostviewed-homepage |title=Raids Widen 'Immigrant' Letter Probe |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=October 21 
2006 |accessdate=2006-10-23}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
 On Election Day federal and state agents from the FBI, the California State Attorney General and Secretary of State, federal election officials and monitors joined forces with a reluctant Orange County District Attorneys office headed by Anthony Ruckauckus to ensure that all registered voters were able to vote without intimidation. Orange County Registrar of Voters office kept voting locations opened beyond normal voting hours due to the influx of registered voters who came out to vote and had been standing in lines around neighborhood blocks for hours.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}

On May 16, 2007, the California Department of Justice investigation determined there was no evidence that Nguyen's campaign had an intent to intimidate those legally entitled to vote. The investigation had found that the original draft of the letter (in English) had warned illegals and those with green cards against voting, but elsewhere had encouraged those with U.S. citizenship to vote.  The phrase "those with green cards" had then been translated into "emigrado," for the Spanis(contracted; show full)[[Category:Living people|Nguyen, Tan]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States|Nguyen, Tan]]
[[Category:American people of Vietnamese descent]]
[[Category:Vietnamese emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:California Democrats]]
[[Category:California Republicans]]
[[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]]