skippy the bush kangaroo

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

justice, nevada style

readers of this space will remember the voter registration scandal in nevada where workers for the voter outreach of america company were seen ripping up applications of democratic voters.

the matter went before a judge to see if those dems, whose registration forms were destroyed, could re-apply after the registration deadline. the judge said no. klas-tv in las vegas reports:

a district court judge late friday afternoon turned down a request from the democratic party to re-open voter registration in clark county.

the whole thing stems from a story of alleged voter fraud first reported by eyewitness news. eric russell, a former employee of voters outreach of america, said he witnessed registration forms from democrats being trashed.

this morning, judge valerie adair basically accepted as fact that voter registration forms had been destroyed by someone and that an unknown number of voters were in danger of being disenfranchised as a result. but by friday afternoon, it was a much different story…

she said of the five torn up registrations, only two were legitimate and such a small number did not warrant re-opening voter registration. she said she needed more concrete evidence and added, "this will create additional fraud and manipulation."
too bad, you say? luckily for us, klas-tv isn't crossfire, and actually decided to keep on investigating this story which they first broke.

klas-tv wonders aloud if the judge's partisan leanings had anything to do with the bizarre back-room dealings:

did politics play a role in the judge's decision? eyewitness news investigative reporter george knapp reports some democrats think it might have.

on friday, judge valerie adair instructed the lawyers for the clark county election department and the state democratic party to huddle together and bang out a compromise about whether voter registration could be opened up for a few hours to provide for those citizens who may have been disenfranchised by the alleged destruction of registration forms by a republican backed private company.

the judge told both sides to return at 4:30 p.m., at which time she might or might not rule. the deal worked out called for a three-hour window on monday during which some voters could sign up again. but when the court reconvened friday afternoon, there was no discussion of the plan.

the court informed both sides that there would be no comment at all, that the judge would read a statement. in her ruling, she turned down the request to reopen registration and said individual voters could file their own actions if they choose.

democratic attorney paul larsen said in his 15 years of practice he's never had a judge ask for a deal and then tell him to keep quiet when he showed up to present it. the lack of input from the two sides caused some to question the judge's motives.
and perhaps question the judge's partisanship. the report points out her relationships with those high up in the state repubbb party:


what is adair's partisan connection? she's listed online as an active member in the national federal of republican women. county records show she also owns a home with tom lozzi, who is listed on the website of the clark county republican party as an officer in that group.

lozzi is also related by marriage to republican senator john ensign. lozzi told the i-team by phone that he had no idea the gop website lists him as an officer because he is not active with the party, although he was a few years ago.

judge adair cannot comment, but a court spokesman says that she expected the lawyers in the case to submit the proposed compromise to her before the 4:30 hearing so she could review it.

lawyer paul larsen says that's not the way he heard it, and even if so, he wonders why the judge didn't at least question the parties when they sat before her.

dina titus said, "that sounds like revisionist history. i think she decided she didn't want to hear the arguments; she had made up her mind and issued her opinion. she told them to work it out. why in the world didn't she ask them, do you have a compromise? both sides would have been willing to tell her, but they never had the opportunity."
hm. repubbb judges ruling to keep dem votes from being counted? where have we heard that before?


(thanks and a tip of the bush kangaroo hat to jim in chicago's dkos diary for keeping on top of this story!!)
posted by skippy at 9:28 AM |

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