Councilman considering whether to challenge Tuesday’s loss

Friday, June 6, 1997 | 5:47 a.m.

City and county officials believe an unresolved annexation case cannot be used to dispute the 63-vote victory by former Las Vegas Stars pitcher Larry Brown.

Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic said after reviewing the situation, he is still recommending to the city clerk that the election certification be approved by the council as scheduled on Monday.

Callister's campaign manager Dan Hart said Thursday he is evaluating information.

Hart expected Callister might make a decision soon on whether to pursue a legal challenge to the election. A candidate has until 14 days after the election to file a lawsuit challenging the election.

Callister, an attorney, would have to prove that enough illegal votes were cast and counted for Brown that it would have made a difference in the final outcome.

The lawsuit that is raising questions about the votes of two precincts in Ward 4 was filed in 1995 by homeowner Deborah Bratcher against the city. She had moved to the county so she would pay lower taxes and she sued in 1995, claiming the city illegally annexed her home when it annexed 358 acres.

She sued to reverse the annexation, and her case was dismissed. But after her attorney appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court, the justices on April 24 sent part of the case back to the District Court to be decided.

Jerbic said he advised that the election certification go forward because there is no final judgment in the matter because it remains pending in District Court.

Normally, in a lawsuit, the status quo exists until something happens to change it, so the annexation would be considered the status quo. Under that argument, the voters who cast ballots in the council race would be legitimate voters.

"It's more of a legal problem than it is an election problem," County Manager Dale Askew said.