Atkinson Gates claims harassment of blacks by lawyer

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.

Voters in North Las Vegas found themselves being watched by lawyers from the Republican and Democratic parties as they cast their ballots.

At H.P Fitzgerald Elementary School, lawyers pointed out violations of polling place rules to election officials including people talking on cell phones or wearing clothing supporting candidates.

One poll worker at the school sighed when a lawyer approached to tell her how to better do her job.

Early in the day a lawyer representing the Republican Party questioned if a vest worn by an observer with Election Protection, a poll-watching organization, should be allowed inside the polling area.

The question sparked a controversy that ended with a heated exchange between Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates and a local attorney watching the poll for the Republicans.

Atkinson Gates, while being interviewed by a KLAS Channel 8 reporter in front of the school, accused David Rahm of trying to disenfranchise black voters.

"I know what Republicans do," Atkinson Gates says in the TV report. "I know how dirty you are."

The TV report was picked up by the CBS network news coverage of the election.

Atkinson Gates later said Rahm showed up at three precincts in the largely black neighborhoods in central Las Vegas.

"He only focused on the black community," Atkinson Gates said. "He was challenging anything. He was telling his people if they looked like they weren't voters to challenge them -- whatever that means. He was harassing everybody."

Rahm said that Atkinson Gates overreacted to a situation she knew nothing about.

"She just started yelling at me about suppressing votes," Rahm said. "I'm just here observing. I'm not suppressing anything.

"I probably should have suggested that she take some anger management classes."

Rahm said he was a roving poll watcher in North Las Vegas and that he had come to the polling place after the question had been raised about the Election Protection worker's vest.

The bright yellow-green vest states in bold black letters, "You have the right to vote," and, "Ask me."

Republicans questioned whether voters would mistake the Election Protection worker for a Clark County Election official. Republican poll watchers also questioned if the worker was participating in electioneering and telling voters to cast a ballot for Kerry.

Election officials at the school said they called Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax, who verified that the Election Protection vests had been approved for use inside polling places.

Rahm and Atkinson Gates both arrived at the school shortly after the incident, and a few minutes after their argument the pair again began talking inside the polling area, but stopped when an election official asked them to leave.

Rahm alleges that Atkinson Gates cussed him out, but witnesses to the argument said that they didn't hear Atkinson Gates curse.

"She told him that he didn't belong here, but I didn't hear her curse him," said John Stephens II, a poll watcher for the Democrats who was welcoming voters at the school. "I liked that she didn't punk out. She wants to protect her constituents."

News of the exchange between Atkinson Gates and Rahm, who is the vice president and general counsel for a caviar company, spread quickly to lawyers at other polling places. Lawyers representing the Democrats at the West Las Vegas Library were talking after the incident about Rahm, alleging he was driving around to different polling places making trouble.

The attorneys didn't know Rahm's name, but knew his white Jaguar with the vanity license plate CAVIAR4.

Roger Wilner, a lawyer from California who was poll watching for the Democrats stationed at the library, said that he hadn't seen anything shady or any electioneering.

"The people I see coming out are serious about voting," Wilner said.