Voter fraud in Las Vegas?

As we fly headfirst into election 2008, it is worth noting how big Nevada figures in the outcome.

Our measly five electoral votes are not only up for grabs, they could be the difference. There's no greater proof of that than how many times the presidential candidates have been to Nevada -- and not just in the population centers of Las Vegas and Reno.

By my count, Sen. Barack Obama's been to Elko three times, and he even granted the editor of the Elko Daily Free Press a one-on-one, sit-down interview. Elko? Three times?

If anything tells you how tight this election may be, that does.

Given what's at stake, I hope our public officials charged with making sure we have a clean and fair election are up to the task. I'm not saying they aren't, I'm just saying there's much at stake and, well, the idea of dead people voting is not exactly a Chicago-only phenomenon.

Along that line, I pass along this note from a long-time Las Vegan who began to notice some weird things. I'm not going to divulge the name, but, trust me, it's a person who knows his way around the Las Vegas political landscape and is not given to flights of paranoia.

Here's the note, with names changed:

"Hi Sherm -- We continue to receive postal cards from the Clark County registrar of voters for my two daughters, one who was married 15 years ago, and the other that was married 12 years ago, as well as my son who moved to Atlanta nine years ago this October. The stuff comes in the girls' maiden names, at our home address.

"I continue to get phone calls asking for Jack and Lilly. I simply tell them they don't live here anymore. The other day I informed the young lady that Jack had moved to Atlanta nine years ago. She said thanks and hung up. She called me back about an hour later and reminded me that I had spoken with her and told her that Jack didn't live here, and she was told by her boss to call back because their information from the registrar's office shows he still lives at my address. I informed her that if that was true, then the information was incorrect and unreliable.

"The kids, I suspect, all initially registered as Democrats. Lilly is now registered as an independent under her married name. Our oldest daughter, Audrey, hasn't voted in years so she should not be on the voting rolls and neither should Jack because he hasn't voted in Las Vegas since he moved to Chicago.

"I thought you might want to look into how the registrar's office scrubs the voting rolls. I thought you were dropped if you missed two general elections in a row. It would really be interesting to know if they vote, or are shown to have voted in the primary."

Indeed it would, my friend. And the Review-Journal will check. Any other loyal Review-Journal readers with a story to tell or a question to ask may e-mail me directly and I'll have it checked out.

And remember, I'm not saying there is voter fraud out there. I trust there is not. But, as in poker, I hope no one is offended if I cut the cards every once in a while.

Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@reviewjournal.com) is publisher of the Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media.