Committee calls for candidates to swear they are not felons

Tuesday, May 6, 2003 | 8:47 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- The Senate Government Affairs Committee considered a number of elections measures Monday, including a bill that would require candidates to swear they aren't felons.

Assembly Bill 285, sponsored by Ellen Koivisto, D-Las Vegas, makes candidates show identification when they file for office and to swear that they are not a felon, or if they are a felon, swear that their civil rights have been restored.

Koivisto brought the legislation as a result of her experience in the last election in which her opponent, Richard Gardner, was disqualified from the election because it was learned after he filed that he was a felon.

Janine Hansen, president of the Nevada Eagle Forum, objected to the requirement that identification be shown in order to file for office, saying it was akin to a poll tax for people who object to having a Social Security number on documents.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said the identification requirement is similar to a requirement that is contained in the new Help America Vote Act for federal offices.

The committee took no action on AB285 or on Assembly Bill 125, an election clerk's cleanup measure.

Among other things, AB125 would shorten by one day the length of the filing period for candidates. Instead of having until the close of business on the third Monday of the period, the period would end with the close of business on Friday.

Lomax said that would give election clerks three additional Ondays to prepare for an election.