Judges on call for election

Three Clark County District Court judges have been selected to hear legal cases that might arise on Election Day.

The District Court announced that judges Valerie Adair, David Barker and Douglas Herndon will be on standby Nov. 4 to resolve any election disputes.

This is the first year the District Court will have judges on-call for election matters, a court official said.

"In an interest of fairness, it is important that we have judges available to provide immediate relief as questions arise," said Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle in a statement. "When an issue related to the election comes up, we want to be able to address it quickly and provide interested parties with timely access to the judicial system."

Hardcastle said that assigning the judges will allow litigants to get immediate relief if and when an issue is raised.

District judges are elected to their nonpartisan positions. Adair, Barker and Herndon are not in contested races this year.

Herndon, a registered Republican, said Tuesday that the move ensures that voters will not be disenfranchised if, for instance, a voting machine goes down on Election Day. The voter could get relief through the courts.

Before serving as a judge, Herndon was the chief deputy district attorney in charge of the special victim's unit.

Adair has dealt with election issues before.

In 2004, she became the target of nasty phone calls demanding her resignation after she rejected the Democratic Party's request to reopen voter registration. Adair, according to Clark County, is a registered Republican.

Democrats at the time fought to reopen voter registration to accommodate Democrats whose forms might have been thrown out by a voter registration group working for the Republican Party.

After her ruling, comedian and liberal radio host Al Franken talked about Adair's decision and publicized her phone number.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.