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FRESNO – A cliffhanger state Assembly race has moved into the courtroom, with Republicans and Democrats fighting over the release of the names and addresses of 154 provisional voters. 

The GOP says it wants the information to conduct its own investigation before the votes are counted to determine if they’re valid. 

“There is only so much checking that (elections officials) can do,” said Blair Knox, research director for the Kern County Republican Party. “Obviously they don’t go door to door. They don’t have the funds to do that sort of thing, to actually verify addresses. 

“It’s just a matter of making sure the process is happening correctly.” 

But Democrats say current procedures for verifying whether someone is qualified to vote are adequate and that giving Republicans the names and addresses would allow them to harass voters. 

“You’re entitled to vote in this country without having a candidate knocking at your door and trying to find a reason to disqualify you,” said Joseph Remcho, an attorney representing Democratic candidate Nicole Parra. “I think the registrar (of voters) will take care of that.” 

Parra, a congressional aide from Hanford, is locked in a tight race with Republican Dean Gardner, a Bakersfield businessman who trails Parra by only 165 votes for the 30th Assembly District seat. 

Gardner has asked Fresno County Superior Court Judge Gary Austin to order Fresno County election officials to turn over the voter information and then wait 72 hours before they start counting the 154 provisional ballots in their portion of the 30th District. 

A hearing on the motion is scheduled Wednesday. 

Knox says the GOP is also “looking at the possibility” of filing the same motion in nearby Kern County, which, like Fresno County, also covers a portion of the 30th District and has withheld the names of provisional voters. 

Kern has about 600 absentee and provisional 30th District ballots to process, said Sandy Brockman, the chief deputy registrar of voters. 

“We truly don’t feel that political parties have the right to dictate office policy or our procedures in this office,” she said. “We have a very good system set up for this. It’s a nonpartisan office. Politics does not belong here.” 

Provisional ballots are cast by voters who show up at a polling place but for some reason there is doubt about their eligibility to vote. The votes are only counted after the voters’ right to vote has been verified. 

Victor Salazar, the Fresno County clerk, says the verification process used by election officials includes a check of the voter’s address and that Gardner has a right to observe the vote count, challenge a vote and get the voter’s address. 

Gardner could also go to court to try to overturn the results if he has evidence of voter fraud, Salazar said. 

But the three-day delay would create a bottleneck that could prevent election officials from certifying the vote by the Dec. 3 deadline, Salazar added. 

“The issue is one of timing,” he said. “He now wants us to stop everything. That’s simply not possible if we’re to meet the deadline. 

“The tallying process should not be an opportunity for discovery. If there’s a basis for a challenge you come forward with it and it’s addressed.”