Proposed election changes face scrutiny

Kirsten Searer

Monday, Dec. 6, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

County registrars and other officials are looking to tighten up election laws, but several civil rights groups said this week they'll work to ensure the reforms don't intrude on voter rights.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said the ACLU and several other groups are working on legislation aimed to clear up laws on provisional ballots, poll watchers and more.

And he said the groups will keep an eye on other ideas for election reform being circulated.

"There needs to be a delicate balancing here," he said. "I do think there needs to be work done."

Peck said he most strongly disagrees with county registrars who say they want to enact rules on poll watchers, who came out in droves this year to monitor the elections.

Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax and other county registrars have said that some poll watchers were aggressive and intimidated both voters and election workers.

County registrars said this week they would like to clarify how many poll watchers can observe an election and whether they can come in contact with voters within 100 feet of the polls.

But Launa Wilson, a field organizer for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said she thinks that is unnecessary.

"I think poll watchers are there just to be that -- poll watchers -- and should not be restricted as much as they have been," she said. "We're not partisan, we're not trying to convince people to vote one way or the other."

Richard Siegel, a professor of political science at the University of Nevada -Reno and president of the ACLU of Nevada, said the ACLU will defend the current law on the matter.

Poll watchers should be able to talk to voters within 100 feet of the polls as long as they don't encourage voters to vote a certain way or ask them how they voted, he said.

"We're prepared to defend the law as written, which does allow contact with voters," Siegel said.

The ACLU and Lomax do agree that the state needs to provide more guidance on the use of provisional ballots given to voters who show up at the wrong polling place or who initially appear not to be registered.

The Secretary of State's office ruled that provisional ballots should be accepted as long as they are cast in the right congressional district. But the ACLU believes those ballots should be counted as long as they are cast in the right counties.

A Clark County voter could easily cast a ballot in the wrong congressional district and be just around the corner from his correct polling place, Siegel said.

Voters who cast the ballots also should be able to vote in all races, not just federal races, as is currently allowed, Siegel said.

The ACLU and county registrars do agree with county registrars that there needs to be tighter monitoring of voter registration forms distributed to third-party groups that register voters.

Thousands of forms went missing this election year, leading to charges that some forms were discarded or lost.

Paul Brown, the Southern Nevada director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said his group also hopes to push legislation requiring county registrars to have uniform rules for voters with a previous felony.

Different counties had different policies toward felons who have had their voting rights reinstated, said Brown, whose group is in the midst of a project to help felons reinstate their voting rights.

"We're just trying to get some more uniformity in that," Brown said.