Recall effort may be short

Two members of the Boulder City Council may have dodged a possible recall election thanks to a new interpretation of state election law that makes it more difficult to remove officials from office.

The petitions against Travis Chandler and Linda Strickland fell short of the signatures required to force a citywide vote, according to a count completed by Clark County election officials Monday.

Recall organizers needed another 20 valid signatures against Strickland and another 176 valid signatures against Chandler to trigger recall elections.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said about one-third of the signatures submitted were disqualified because of Secretary of State Ross Miller's new take on the law.

In March, with the Boulder City recall drive already under way, Miller ruled that only voters who participate in the election of an official should be allowed to sign a petition to remove him or her from office.

Before Miller's interpretation, election officials in Clark County would count any signature on recall petition as long as it came from a registered voter.

The two council members were elected last year. To force them back on the ballot for a recall election required at least 1,085 valid signatures against Strickland and 1,268 valid signatures against Chandler. Instead, recall organizers collected 1,065 against Strickland and 1,092 against Chandler.

"I thought it would be close," Chandler said of the results announced on Monday. "I can't say I'm entirely surprised."

But the drama may not be over for Strickland.

Lomax said the counts announced on Monday were based on a random sampling of 500 signatures from the petitions. Because the drive against Strickland came so close to qualifying for the ballot, he expects state election officials to order a full verification of all 1,974 signatures on her petitions.

Recall organizers also are free to appeal the results of the signature verification process to the secretary of state's office, or file a lawsuit challenging Miller's interpretation of the law, Lomax said.

"I have no idea whether anyone plans to do that. I just know none of this is over until it's over," he said.

Recall organizer Robert Draney said his group is still analyzing the numbers and considering its options.

"We feel confident that we won't need to take legal action," the Boulder City resident said. "We would rather not. That's expensive. But we feel confident in our legal position."

If they do decide to go that route, they will be facing off against both the secretary of state and the attorney general's office, which backed Miller's interpretation in a ruling last month.

"I don't know if that's the wise thing to do," Chandler said.

Asked if being targeted for a recall -- even an unsuccessful one -- would change the way he approaches his work on the council, Chandler said, "It hasn't yet, and it won't."

If voters don't like the job he has done when his term is up in 2011, they are free to vote him out of office then, Chandler said . "I'm perfectly content to go back to my private life."

Strickland could not be reached for comment.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.