Officials: Errors did not affect outcome of vote

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2000 | 11:33 a.m.

A handful of counting errors were committed by election staff during the primary elections last week, but government officials insisted Tuesday that none would have changed the outcome of even the closest races.

County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax described the glitches to commissioners during a special meeting Tuesday called to canvass the Sept. 5 election results.

Lomax said two computer cartridges failed to register votes, leading staff members to believe the voting machines hadn't been used. The votes were counted Wednesday after the mistake was discovered.

"None of the errors had any effect on who won the race or the outcome of any race," Lomax said. "The cartridges were never out of our control or left behind or tampered with."

The cartridge errors, which occurred in a Mesquite precinct and in Clark County Commission District B, had the greatest effect on the tight race between Republican commission candidates Glen Easter and Dan Williams.

When the cartridge was tallied, Williams gained eight more votes and closed to within three votes of Easter. After Tuesday's commission meeting, Williams said he has no intention of asking for a recount.

"I feel it's important to keep party unity," Williams said. "The results are in and I lost."

With Easter's victory he will move forward and face Commissioner Mary Kincaid in November's general election. After the cartridge from District B was counted, Kincaid collected five more votes and her opponent, North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, received seven additional votes. Kincaid ended up with 5,133 votes to Smith's 4,642.

A different type of computer error occurred at a polling site in Senate District 4, where Democratic hopeful Uri Clinton lost a close race to incumbent Sen. Joe Neal. Lomax said two machines were activated twice but added again that it didn't affect the outcome of the race. Still, Clinton asked for a recount following the meeting.

A race unaffected by the election night glitches was the Republican primary between incumbent Lance Malone and political newcomer Chip Maxfield. Maxfield played on Malone's well-publicized gaffes during his first term and collected 62 percent of the votes in District C.

Malone, who vanished after the upset, was the only commissioner absent Tuesday. Most of Malone's roadside campaign signs are gone and the commissioner hasn't been seen around the county offices in a week, according to his colleagues.

Adrienne Packer

covers county government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2310 or by e-mail at adrienne@lasvegassun.com