Posted on 10/23/2002 7:57:39 PM PDT by jmstein7
Merlino, Beckett welcome FBI voter probe By DOUG McMURDO and RICH THURLOW October 23, 2002 County clerk believes investigation could last well beyond Nov. 5 general election Eight FBI special agents armed with a subpoena rolled into Tonopah early Monday morning and confiscated roughly 60 banker boxes containing thousands of records regarding the 2000 general election and the Sept. 3 primary election. That was viewed as good news by District Attorney Bob Beckett and County Clerk Sam Merlino.
Special Agent Daron Borst had virtually nothing to say regarding what occurred at Tonopah, or why.
"I can't say anything on this due to Dept. of Justice guidelines and other federal laws," Borst said Monday afternoon. "I cannot provide any details on this investigation. Dept. of Justice guidelines are the ones I have to go by."
Borst said he could not comment on the number of agents reported to have gone to Tonopah or why that many might be required. He did offer that the FBI prefers to send as many agents as possible on an investigation in order to conduct it quickly.
Borst said the type of investigation being conducted would not allow for information to be released to the public prior to the conclusion of it, and, "I have no idea when that's going to be."
Nor would Borst say what the FBI was looking for. "It's forbidden for me to talk about that," he said.
Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino said the agents were equally tightlipped with her, though one of them told her the investigation "specifically" addressed allegations of voter fraud. The agents, she said, were precluded from informing Merlino who it was that contacted them.
Sources said Deputy Attorney General and Nye County District Attorney candidate Brian Kunzi contacted the FBI after he was presented with allegations of voter fraud. Kunzi was not available for comment by press time. At any rate, Kunzi reportedly told several people he was compelled to contact the FBI after he received the complaints due to his status as a state prosecutor.
"They took all records from the 2000 general and the 2002 primary elections," Merlino said. "I believe they want to sift through them to be sure the people who have requested absentee ballots actually exist."
Merlino said the agents arrived unannounced in four white sedans and left the county seat late Monday morning and headed back to the bureau's Las Vegas field office. The records seized included voter ballots, absentee ballots, poll books and registers, said Merlino, who was followed by all eight agents when she had to drive to the old Tonopah courthouse to retrieve records from the 2000 election that are kept in a vault.
"They were polite to us," she said. "They were all wearing black suits and driving white cars and they would not let me out of their sight. It was kind of intimidating, but there was no problem whatsoever."
While FBI officials are prohibited from talking about the investigation, Merlino indicated the inquest might not conclude anytime soon. "They said they would be back right after the (Nov. 5) general election to take those records," she said.
Merlino welcomes the FBI's involvement. "If this cleans it up and we're squeaky clean, that would be good. If they find something we'll deal with it as we're supposed to. If they don't find anything, that would be wonderful."
District Attorney Bob Beckett was also thankful the FBI has become involved. "We'll run our investigation parallel to theirs," said Beckett. "The federal government has many more resources than we do, and hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of those resources."
In the meantime, Beckett said his office has begun its investigation into allegations that Chuck Bondi and others committed perjury or entered into a conspiracy to commit perjury when they filed over 1,200 voter challenges earlier this month. Nearly 200 of those challenges were duplicates or triplicates of the same challenge.
At issue is the manner in which the challenge was mounted. The group, most who are members of Concerned Citizens for Fair Elections, signed their names to each of the written notices, swearing under penalty of perjury they physically inspected each residence they said was abandoned or otherwise not occupied by a registered voter.
More than 220 of the challenges were improper, and several of the signers testified in court last week they did not actually inspect the suspect voter residence.
Of decidedly more importance is the issue of the more than 850 voter registrations that were cancelled due to listing a PO box as the voter's physical address. Such listings are illegal in Nevada and last week Fifth District Judge Robert Lane ordered them expunged from the rolls until and if the voter corrects the defect in his or her registration.
While the figures continue to be studied, a preliminary count conducted by the district attorney's office concluded 232 of the 1,045 voters challenged (minus the 198 duplicates) participated in the Sept. 3 primary. Of those, 141 who voted were subsequently cancelled last week. Those 141 will be precluded from voting Nov. 5 if they fail to correct any defects listed on their voter registration. The method under which they voted, whether via absentee, early or on election day, has not been determined though those numbers would likely be crunched later this week.
Illegal registrations can be remedied in writing or by providing proof the voter has a physical address in Nye County when they go to the polls.
By 8 a.m. Tuesday, the second day of early voting, election board Chairwoman Kay Floyd said five voters who had been impacted had taken advantage of the opportunity to properly register.
In a Las Vegas Review-Journal article on the subject in Tuesday's edition, the writer quoted unnamed sources as saying they were upset with the results of the Sept. 3 primary. Specifically mentioned was the fact incumbent Sheriff Wade Lieseke was losing badly to challenger Tony DeMeo until absentee ballots were counted and those totals "swayed the race (Lieseke's) way."
Lieseke prevailed over challenger Doug Richards in a similar fashion in 1998. Not mentioned is the fact that Lieseke also pulled majority numbers in early voting in both races as well. DeMeo garnered 2,313 votes to Lieseke's 2,184 in the primary. During early voting held in late August, Lieseke received 779 votes to DeMeo's 565 and Lieseke earned nearly one hundred more votes in absentee voting, 223 to 128 cast for DeMeo.
On FOX 5 News on Tuesday morning, a newscaster said "dead" people were voting in Nye County. She did not mention the source of that information.
There is no evidence to support the allegation, said Merlino, adding, "This is getting out of hand."
©Pahrump Valley Times 2002
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