Poll watchers descend on Nevada

Sito Negron

Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004 | 9:52 a.m.

Hundreds of thousands of people were voting in Clark County today, and hundreds of people were watching.

Democratic lawyers, Republican operatives and civil liberties groups were among those sending observers to the polls to watch for attempts to vote fraudulently, to discourage people from voting or any combination of the two.

"We're working with the (Election Protection Project), a nonpartisan effort," said Nevada American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Gary Peck. "They're going to have lawyers deployed throughout the Las Vegas Valley on the ready if there's any reason for them to intercede on behalf of eligible voters whose right to cast a ballot is being threatened."

Officials early today did not report any significant problems.

It was a scene similar to others across the nation, although perhaps exaggerated in what are today considered "swing states" -- undecided electorates from Oregon and Nevada to Ohio and Florida.

Because of the passions elicited in this billion-dollar election frenzy, pundits have predicted some form of voter controversy. Pre-election lawsuits from voters who claim they should be registered but aren't and from people challenging voters on the rolls -- the subject of two lawsuits in Clark County -- have upped the ante, and Republicans and Democrats have said they expect legal action to follow the Election Day voting.

Metro Police officers, aware of Election Day tensions, have met with groups representing poll watchers over the past several days.

"We have made some preparations. Obviously we are not willing to discuss operational details," Metro spokesman Jose Montoya said,

This year is unique because of the number of outside groups bringing attention to Las Vegas, Montoya said.

"We know obviously Nevada is a state that is hotly contested by both sides."

The Justice Department will have 1,000 people watching polls nationally, about double the number from the 2000 election.

Evan Roosevelt, whose organization People for the American Way was a founder of the Election Protection Project, said he'll have roughly 160 volunteers covering about 50 polling places in Clark County.

"We'll be at polling sites handing out our voting bill of rights and trouble-shooting problems when they arise," Roosevelt said. "When someone calls with a problem, we'll link to lawyers trained in Nevada state polling laws."

The Election Protection Project began after the 2000 election, in which allegations of voter suppression in Florida -- where thousands of black voters' ballots were not counted -- still echo, particularly among Democrats.

However, Roosevelt stressed that his group is nonpartisan. The coalition involved with the Election Protection Project includes the ACLU and the NAACP. All told, the group will have up to 20,000 volunteers working in 17 states, according to a news release.

Republicans have said they'll have about 200 people watching polls.

The Democratic Party also will have people watching the polls, spokesman Jon Summers said.

"We'll have hundreds of attorneys statewide who will be made available to protect the rights of every person to vote," he said.

Secretary of State Dean Heller announced last week that a state investigation found no evidence of organized voter fraud, although there have been some cases where individuals faked voter registration forms in an attempt to earn more money.

However, he said in a news release that some voter registration groups were paying people on a quota basis, and, "It appears that many of these organizations have become victims of their own employees obtaining money under false pretense."

It is a state felony to pay people based on how many voter registration forms they bring in or on the number of voters a person registers in a particular political party.

A specific case regarding allegations in Nevada and other states that a group funded by the Republican National Committee destroyed Democratic voter registration forms has been turned over to the FBI.

The Nevada advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights also has asked the Justice Department to investigate the allegations against Voters Outreach of America.

Eric Russell, a former employee of the group, alleges that he caught supervisors tearing up Democratic voter registration forms. Russell also said employees were paid by the number of Republican registration forms they turned in, and that they were instructed in ways to avoid registering Democrats.

In turn, Nathan Sproul, the Arizona Republican operative behind Voters Outreach, has sued Russell for slander.