Editorial: Voting fraud must trigger quick action

Thursday, July 29, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

Secretary of State Dean Heller says there are more than 100 groups working right now to increase Nevada's voter registration rolls. Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax can attest to their productivity. He's receiving, on average, about 7,600 new registrations a week (2,000 is normal for an election year). Nevada's status as a swing state is the impetus for this activity.

Voter registration drives project positive images. We think of their role in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, for example. And we think of Nevada's historically low voter turnout -- only two states had a lower turnout than Nevada in the 2000 elections -- and see the need for them.

Unfortunately, however, even though the opportunity exists for amassing endless bundles of legitimate registrations, fraud appears to be rampant among some groups that are paying workers to register voters. Earlier this month Lomax sounded the alarm when he noticed stacks of registrations being turned in -- all in the same handwriting. He suspects some groups are paying workers by how many registrations they turn in, rather than by the hour as state law requires. Other types of fraud were also spotted, prompting Lomax to ask for criminal investigations.

Heller said when the FBI and the Clark County District Attorney's office declined to investigate, citing lack of evidence, he called in the Nevada Division of Investigations. This law enforcement arm of the state found enough evidence, Heller said, to start an investigation.

Lomax believes registration fraud by gatherers is all about making a dishonest buck, as opposed to any organized attempt to affect election results. The registrar has a number of internal safeguards at work to protect vote totals. Nevertheless, those who would subvert our most important right, a right paid for in blood since the country's founding, should be held accountable. "Clamp down and prosecute, or this continues," Heller says. "If it becomes apparent that Nevada is not policing its elections, every special-interest group in the country will come here and try to manipulate them."

We are concerned that Lomax's call for help generated so little serious response until Heller got involved. "Democracy is based on the integrity of elections," Lomax told the Sun. "People out just to make a buck can degrade the whole system." We agree, and believe that if the registrar raises an alarm, it should trigger an immediate and aggressive investigation. Nevada's law enforcement agencies should have a formal procedure for this, one that does not allow an assessment of "no evidence" when there are mounds of suspicious paperwork in plain view.