San Pasqual's chairman instructed tribal security officials and sheriff's deputies to block about 50 members from voting in Sunday's elections, a possible violation of their civil rights, according to a federal official.

Angela Martinez-McNeal said she and her family were prevented from entering the facility where elections were held because the chairman, Allen Lawson, and his supporters say they are not valid members of the tribe.

"They treated us like criminals," Martinez said Monday.

Lawson, who apparently won re-election Sunday, declined to comment on the matter.

The Valley Center-area tribe, which has about 300 members, owns Valley View Casino.

A spokeswoman at the Sheriff's Valley Center Substation declined to comment on the incident and referred questions to the tribe, which has a contract with the department for law enforcement service.

Lt. Phil Brust, a spokesman for the department in San Diego, could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Martinez said she and her family received a letter from the tribe's enrollment committee saying they were ineligible to vote because of their disputed official membership in the tribe, even though the federal government tentatively has sided with Martinez and her family.

"The enrollment committee declares and verifies that the disputed Marcus R. Alto Sr., and all of his descendants have been disenrolled and all membership rights have been suspended as part of the disenrollment," according to the letter dated Dec. 29 and provided by Martinez to the North County Times.

Not allowing the Alto family members to vote could be a violation of their American Indian civil rights, said Jim Fletcher, superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Southern California.

"There were a number of them that told me that they weren't allowed to vote," Fletcher said.

However, Fletcher said he must wait until he receives official election results from the tribe and testimony from those who were banned from voting to look into the matter.

Fletcher has said that the federal government considers the family to be official members of the tribe until the bureau makes a final decision on the enrollment question.

The bureau made a tentative ruling in favor of the family in November.

Several members of the Alto family were ousted last year from tribal government jobs, including positions at the tribe's casino.

Their share of casino revenue payments also were suspended.

That money is being kept in an escrow account until the membership question is resolved, according to tribal documents.

Martinez, who served as tribal secretary, said she was not allowed to run for re-election.

She said her family planned to challenge the legality of the election and its results.

In 2007, a tribal member filed an official challenge against the family, saying that they did not meet the necessary requirements to belong in the San Pasqual tribe.

It said that their ancestor, Marcus R. Alto Sr., was adopted by his parents, Jose and Maria Alto, and was not their biological son.

In November, the Bureau of Indian Affairs regional director, Dale Morris, said there was not enough evidence to remove the family from the tribe, but said that the tribe could file an appeal of his decision.

Most tribes make their own decisions about who belongs, but under San Pasqual's constitution, the Bureau of Indian Affairs must approve the disenrollment of tribal members.

San Pasqual officials said they consider their decision to remove the family in effect until the federal officials in Washington make the final determination on the dispute, according to the San Pasqual enrollment committee's Dec. 29 letter.

"In the regional director's letter, he made clear that the Nov. 26, 2008, decision 'is not yet effective,' and because the tribe has now filed an appeal, the decision shall be stayed until the assistant secretary- Indian Affairs renders his decision," according to the enrollment committee's letter.

Martinez said the decision to ban them from voting makes her family "guilty until proven innocent."

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.