One-vote winner of North Las Vegas City Council race sues to stop new election

The one-vote winner of a heated North Las Vegas City Council race is suing to stop a new election.

An attorney for dentist Wade Wagner, who won election to the council's Ward 4 seat by a single vote, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in District Court against the city and four council members over the decision to order a new election in one precinct after the discovery of an ineligible vote.

Wagner won the election "but is being deprived of the office due to the unlawful actions of partisan City Council members who claim the power to void lawful votes because their preferred candidate lost," the complaint said.

It asks the court to order the city to certify the original election and to stop the city from going forward with a new one. The city has 45 days to respond.

Wagner won the race earlier this month with 1,831 votes versus incumbent Councilman Richard Cherchio's 1,830.

The city's decision to "reject the canvass of the votes and hold a new election is outside the scope of its authority and against the law," the complaint said.

But attorney Matt Griffin, former deputy secretary of state for elections who was retained by the city to advise council members about their options concerning the election, said the decision to redo it was perfectly legal.

"I laid out what legally the options were available to them," he said. "They chose that."

Bradley Schrager, an attorney for Cherchio, called the lawsuit unfortunate.

"The City Council made a reasoned and informed decision, and it was in their discretion to order a new election," he said. "It's a shame that Mr. Wagner is trying to stop an open democratic process."

The council could have chosen to certify the results anyway after learning that a voter who was not eligible to cast a ballot in the precinct was allowed to do so.

The council last week voted to redo the election in precinct 4306, where the ineligible vote was cast. The parameters of that election are to be considered at a special City Council meeting today.

Mayor Shari Buck recused herself from the vote, saying that she had donated to Wagner's campaign and that her husband had worked for the campaign "and was paid." Cherchio also did not participate in the vote. But he is included with the remaining three council members in the lawsuit.

"We felt it appropriate to name him in his capacity as a candidate because his purported rights are affected by the court's ruling," said Todd Bice, an attorney for Wagner.

The remaining three members of the council voted unanimously to let residents of the precinct recast their ballots.

"The voter decides who sits here," Councilwoman Anita Wood said at the time. "I don't get to usurp that decision."

Wood and Councilman Robert Eliason disclosed that they had donated to Cherchio's campaign but didn't feel they needed to abstain from the vote.

Wagner thought the election should have been canvassed, allowing Cherchio to request a recount if he desired.

The precinct boundary runs from Cheyenne Avenue to Alexander Road and from Revere Street to approximately Interstate 15.

The two candidates probably will compete for relatively few votes in the area. Only 110 people in the precinct voted. But all 1,248 eligible voters can cast ballots in the revote.

While he lost the election, Cherchio won in that precinct 56 to 54.

The problem arose after a voter who was registered in another ward was allowed to cast a ballot. An election worker mistakenly thought he was allowed to vote there because he had moved into the precinct.

Officials don't know who the ineligible vote was for because, once ballots are cast, they are mixed and can't be traced back to a specific voter.

The city said it would cost roughly $3,000 to redo the vote in that precinct.

The last time the city redid part of an election was in 1999. Voters in two precincts were allowed to revote in a primary election contest for City Council after voting mistakes were found.

Cherchio will be relieved of his duty on the council July 1, leaving four members until the election is resolved.

The contest between Cherchio, 64, and Wagner, 48, was overshadowed by the war between Cherchio and the city's public safety unions. The police and fire unions opposed Cherchio, campaigning against him door to door, because the councilman voted for cuts to public safety in the cash-strapped city.

Cherchio was appointed to the seat in 2009. Council members serve four-year terms and earn $41,827 a year.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.