Flood of registration forms prompts voter fraud probe

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

State and county officials are investigating possible voter fraud in Nevada, Secretary of State Dean Heller said Monday.

"We're waiting to hear from the Nevada Division of Investigations," Heller said. "At that point we will make a decision on where to take it from there."

A flood of registration forms has surfaced in both Clark and Washoe counties, Heller said. The state is working with Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax. "He has the support of my office," Heller said.

Nevada is considered a battleground state in the presidential election between President Bush and Democrat John F. Kerry, Heller said.

"The registration drive is pushing up registration, and that's wonderful," he said.

However, the irregularities in registration forms has cast a shadow over Nevada, harking back to the contentious Florida election in 2000, Heller said.

Heller said his office alerted the Nevada Division of Investigations on the irregularities, and investigators are gathering evidence. An earlier review by the FBI didn't turn up substantive evidence, he said.

Lomax said that he spoke with agents from the Nevada Division of Investigations last week. "They indicated that this is worth pursuing," he said.

Lomax said on Monday's "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," airing on Cox cable channels 1 and 19, that it is clear that laws have been broken as thousands of suspicious registrations pour into the Clark County Election Department office.

Forms with the same handwriting are "clearly fraudulent," Lomax said.

Even if only 1 percent or 2 percent of the forms are affected, it adds up to thousands of votes affected in a presidential race, Lomax said.

Nearly 22,000 voter registration forms have arrived at the Election Department in the past three weeks, Lomax said. In the same three-week period in 2002, 5,000 signatures were turned in and in 2000, 7,000 signatures.

"We are working to identify who is committing these crimes," Lomax said.

Lomax said he suspects that workers from out of state signing up voters may be earning extra money for more signed forms that they turn in. In Nevada workers collecting registrations must be paid by the hour.

"First, we have to investigate who is doing this, then turn it over to the proper authorities," Lomax said. "Every election presents its challenges, and this one is going to be particularly challenging."

The registrar said he is confident that his staff and the election process will work smoothly, although the primary election is only a month and a half away.

Hispanic activist Andres Ramirez, also appearing on the program Monday, said he is not sure who is behind the bogus registrations.

"We think there is definitely some voter registration fraud going on in terms of the shear numbers of forms," Ramirez told Ralston.