Complaint charges 160 illegal votes cast in Assembly contest

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002 | 9:41 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An election complaint has been filed with the secretary of state's office, suggesting 160 illegal votes were cast for Democrat Marcus Conklin in his victory over Republican Francis Allen for Assembly District 37, in northwest Las Vegas.

The contest was submitted Tuesday by Sandra June Vitolo, who says if the votes were taken away from Conklin, he would end up the loser. He won by 134 votes.

Susan Bilyeu, deputy secretary of state for elections, said the law requires the complaint to be turned over to the Assembly for a review and a decision on whether illegal votes were cast. The Assembly is controlled by Democrats 23-19.

Vitolo said Gary Horrocks Sr., an unsuccessful Republican candidate in the district, helped get the 160 contested votes, ballots from voters she said did not live in that district.

Horrocks, who owns the Clubhouse Tavern, denies he was involved in any illegal voting. He said he and his 800-member Nevada Association of Concerned Motorcyclists voted for the candidate they thought would best represent them.

He said he talked with Conklin about the issues for more than an hour. He said Allen never returned his phone calls.

Many motorcyclists in the district are Democrats, he said.

In his voter guide available in the bar, Horrocks said he urged people to vote their party. When someone asked him personally who to vote for, he said he recommended Conklin.

Vitolo said 160 people who voted did not live in District 37 for the required 10 days before the election. She said this has been verified by David Groover of Groover and Associates. Horrocks said Groover is a private investigator.

Vitolo said ballots of people who did not live in the district were mailed from Horrocks' bar and/or with a return address of the post office box of the Nevada Association of Concerned Motorcyclists.

Conklin said today he was never involved in any fraudulent voting procedures. "But if there is voter fraud, it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent," he said.