Candidates want Nevada recount

Kirsten Searer

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2004 | 11:06 a.m.

Two third-party presidential candidates are asking for a recount of Nevada's presidential votes, saying that problems with voter registration and voting machines might have marred the count in Nevada.

The request was filed by David Cobb, the Green Party presidential candidate, and Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Party candidate.

"We want to assure the integrity of the vote and the accuracy of the vote counting machines," said Blair Bobier, spokesman for the Cobb campaign.

Both campaigns are in the midst of paying for a recount in Ohio, and this week they said they would add Nevada and New Mexico to their list.

They will be stuck with the bill for Nevada's recount. The amount has not yet been determined, though Bobier said the secretary of state's office said it could cost as much as $500,000.

"We think that's high and we'll be trying to ascertain the most accurate cost in determining how to proceed on that basis," Bobier said.

Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax said his office is currently trying to determine how much a recount would cost in the county. Every voting machine in Clark County is able to print out a paper trail of the votes cast on that machine, Lomax said.

Lomax said he was surprised that the groups expressed concern about the machine counts, instead of focusing on absentee ballot counts, which are typically less reliable.

"It's going to be an awful lot of work for everyone involved in doing the recount," he said. "They're just going to see the same results all over again and spend an awful lot of money."

The campaigns and the nonprofit political organization called the Help America Recount Fund are funding recounts in the three states. Costs in Ohio totalled $113,600, and that recount is set to start in about 10 days, Bobier said.

The Cobb Web site states that the campaign is concerned that undervotes in Clark County were "significantly higher than expected." The campaign also wants to look at the accuracy of Nevada's high-profile electronic voting machines.

Lomax said that presidential undervotes in Clark County were actually lower than other major counties in the state.