Arizona / West

Nev. judge won't reopen registration

LAS VEGAS - A state judge refused Friday to reopen registration for Clark County residents whose voter applications might have been destroyed by a Republican-funded group. Clark County District Court Judge Valerie Adair said she was presented with evidence of just two voters who might have been disenfranchised by having their registration forms ripped up, and said that did not justify reopening the registration process. "While this court believes that each individual's vote is important and must be protected . . . the court finds the requested relief is not warranted," she said. Nevada Democratic Party spokesman Jon Summers said the party was considering its options on the lawsuit it originally filed Wednesday seeking to extend the registration deadline. Registration for the general election closed Tuesday. The judge had said she was concerned about opening "floodgates" to manipulation of the voter rolls on the eve of early voting for the Nov. 2 election. The state allows peopdle to vote early for 14 days beginning today. Lawyers for the state Demo-cratic Party and the county had said they thought the number of voters affected might be in the dozens. The judge said people who think they were wrongly denied the opportunity to vote can file a lawsuit. She noted that registration forms also contain a disclaimer advising registrants to submit their completed applications in person or by mail, or run the risk of not being registered if another person doesn't turn in the form properly. County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said he was pleased with the quick decision so his department can focus on early voting, mail-in ballots and the Nov. 2 election. Some 58,000 requests for mail ballots are expected, officials have said. The Democratic Party's lawsuit accused Voters Outreach of America, a private canvassing company hired by the Republican National Committee, of destroying Democratic registration forms collected in the Las Vegas and Reno areas. Nevada state law requires anyone registering voters to accept and submit forms regardless of a voter's party affiliation. The lawsuit, alleging voter intimidation and fraud, sought to reopen registration in Clark County, where nearly 700,000 of the record 1.1 million registered voters have signed up to vote. The case is based on an affidavit by former Voters Outreach employee Eric Russell, 26, of Las Vegas. He said he was disappointed by Adair's ruling, and denied raising the issue in retaliation for being fired by the canvassing firm last month. Russell's affidavit said he was instructed to register only Republicans, and that he saw a supervisor tear up completed registration forms from Democrats.