LOOKING IN ON: CARSON CITY

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006 | 7:03 a.m.

CARSON CITY - The election is long over but some critics are continuing to raise questions about the accuracy of the state's electronic voting machines.

One bill being prepared for the 2007 Legislature calls for a performance evaluation of the machines to make sure they are tamper-proof. Another measure would require a hand count of 2 percent of the precincts after an election to verify the voting machine totals.

"Nobody has done an audit of these since they have been put in place," said retired state Sen. Joe Neal of Las Vegas, who asked Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, to draft and introduce a bill calling for such a review.

And Janine Hansen, an unsuccessful candidate for secretary of state in November, has persuaded Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, to sponsor the idea of the hand count.

Ellick Hsu, chief deputy secretary of state for elections, said precautions are taken to protect the machines' integrity.

"Overall the machines worked well," Hsu said.

A recount in one race in Churchill County verified the electronic vote result.

Hansen said although she was not aware of any problems in the 2006 election, "I want to put the voters' minds at ease."

Currently, after each election, there is a mandatory examination of at least 2 percent of the machines to test their accuracy, Hsu said.

The Nevada Supreme Court has opened the door for more than 45 motorists to pursue their Las Vegas suit against a national accounting firm accused of being part of a scam to rip off consumers.

The motorists say they are suing on behalf of an estimated 1 million consumers nationwide who purchased worthless extended car warranties when they purchased their vehicles.

In the case before the state Supreme Court, the car owners are suing KPMG LLP, but as many as 60 other defendants may be involved.

District Judge Valerie Adair dismissed the suit against KPMG on grounds the complaint failed to state specific instances of fraud.

While the Supreme Court agreed that the complaint lacked specifics, the justices, in a unanimous opinion, said many of the facts are in KPMG's hands.

The motorists say they purchased extended warranties at an average cost of $2,000 when they bought their cars. But National Warranty Insurance Group RRG declined to pay for repairs starting in May 2003.

The suit charges that KPMG, which provided accounting services for National Warranty from 1988, concealed the company's shaky financial state, permitting it to continue to collect premiums when it was near bankruptcy.

The extended warranties were sold by auto dealers, promoters and marketers who took as much as 90 percent of the premium as a commission.

While Nevada is growing, the number of those interested in outdoor pursuits such as hunting and fishing is declining.

Robert Buonamici, acting director of the state Wildlife Department, said regular resident hunting licenses dropped by 2.4 percent from 2000 to 2005, with fishing licenses declining by 35.4 percent during the same five-year period.

"The replacement of current sportsmen isn't happening at the rate we would like to see it," Buonamici said.

The department's audit showed that resident hunting licenses fell from 15,270 in 2000 to 14,902 in 2005. Fishing licenses dropped from 61,613 to 39,795 .