Democracy in Peril

By Steve Sebelius

DISENFRANCHISED: Another day, another lawsuit.

How many days left until Nov. 2?

This time, it was the Nevada Democratic Party suing to get Clark County Election Department chief Larry Lomax to reopen voter registration so some voters allegedly disenfranchised by a Republican-hired group could still sign up. District Judge Valerie Adair said no.

It was the right call, but it points up some disturbing things:

• Voter registration deadlines should not be so far from Election Day. It's important to have a deadline to establish a final list of voters and prevent fraud, but why not allow people to register to vote in person at the county's election office up to the week before the election? Most voters don't pay attention much before then anyway, so it would help people who wait until the last minute to exercise their franchise.

• Voters should be aware that there are dirty tricksters out there. In the case in Adair's court, the Republican National Committee hired the Arizona consulting firm Sproul & Associates to register Republicans in Nevada, a battleground state. Sproul & Associations in turn hired Voter Outreach of America, a company that's being investigated in Oregon after an official hinted he might destroy Democratic registrations there.

Sure enough, a former employee reported that a Voter Outreach official had ripped up Democratic registration forms right in front of him here in Las Vegas, meaning those voters were not registered and will not appear on the voter rolls on Election Day. If true--Sproul founder Nathan Sproul denies the charge, and he would never lie, right?--it's the most despicable political dirty trick out there.

But voters need to heed a warning on the registration form that says unless they deliver the form to the voter registration department personally or put it in a mailbox, it may not make it downtown. These days, it's easy to check on the Internet (www.co.clark.nv.us/election/home.asp) to make sure you're registered. Everybody ought to do that.

• Adair didn't have much choice in her ruling, since there is virtually no way to reopen the registration only to those people who say they registered with a Voter Outreach canvasser and were defrauded. Anybody could say that they, too, registered, and even produce a post-dated registration receipt.

Her final solution--telling voters who think they were defrauded to file an individual lawsuit to ensure their votes are counted--is about the best anybody can do.

• State and even federal authorities are investigating the Voter Outreach incident. If it's proven that registration forms were destroyed, the culprits should be. The community needs an example that voter fraud is a serious matter.

It's only when legitimate, eligible voters--through no fault of their own--are denied access to the ballot through the trickery and artifice of unscrupulous types that democracy is truly in peril.