Voter fraud isn’t coordinated

Secretary of State Ross Miller held a press conference Thursday to offer some good news: His office has found no evidence of widespread, coordinated voter registration fraud in the final weeks before November's election.

The problem with that good news: Widespread, coordinated voter registration fraud has never been a significant threat to the integrity of Nevada's elections. There are protocols in place to catch third-party registration vendors, from Republican-affiliated Strategic Allied Consulting to Democrat-loyal ACORN, if their work results in registration irregularities.

The real election fraud danger comes from the scores upon scores of individuals, acting independently, who cast ballots when they're ineligible to vote, cast multiple ballots or cast ballots in multiple states. Because of the state's election laws, it's exceptionally easy for motivated lawbreakers to commit election fraud, and it's exceptionally difficult to identify, catch and prosecute them.

There may not be widespread, coordinated voter registration fraud, but election fraud happens. That's scary. In a critical battleground state like Nevada, fewer than 1,000 votes could decide which party wins the White House and control of the U.S. Senate.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the post cards Miller's office sent to some 400,000 Nevadans last month. The cards invited recipients to register to vote online. But the cards went to an unknown number of resident aliens and felons who aren't eligible to vote. Worse, if such folks ignore the tersely worded warnings against election fraud, they can successfully register to vote because of the state's lack of safeguards. Miller's office acknowledged there's really no way to detect whether a registered voter is a felon whose civil rights have not been restored.

After that column ran Sept. 23, I learned the post cards were sent to an unknown number of deceased Nevadans as well.

Lovely.

When it really comes down to it, registering to vote is an honor system in which liars and cheaters can cancel out the ballots of informed, law-abiding voters.

Now, with voter registration closing Tuesday and early voting starting Saturday, here's some new information to put the specter of registration fraud in perspective:

New voter registrations are checked against state Department of Motor Vehicles records and Social Security data to verify names against dates of birth and addresses. If the information on a registration form doesn't match the data, the voter's registration is flagged as "ID-required." That means the voter will be asked to show identification at the polls to verify their name and address and prove their eligibility in a precinct.

"Sometimes it's as simple as someone registering as Steve when their real name is Stephen," said Larry Lomax, Clark County's registrar of voters.

As of Thursday morning, 18,729 of Clark County's 843,584 active registered voters had been flagged as ID-required. That's 2.2 percent of the electorate.

By comparison, as of Thursday night, 1,061 of Washoe County's 238,713 registered voters had been flagged as ID-required. That's just 0.4 percent of that county's voters.

"We thought that number was high, incredibly high," said Luanne Cutler, Washoe County's acting senior deputy registrar. (Washoe County Registrar Dan Burk is on temporary medical leave after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery last week.)

Does Clark County's transiency explain a rate of ID-required voters that's nearly six times higher than Washoe County's "incredibly high" rate? Or is there something more going on?

And get this: Those ID-required voters don't even have to show government-issued photo identification to make their ballots count. While state law and administrative code show clear preference for government-issued identification - a driver's license, a passport, a sheriff's work card, military ID - an ID-required voter can show a health insurance card and a cellphone bill and be good to go.

Call me a crazy conspiracy theorist, but election fraud happens. The question is whether there will be enough of it to swing a race. With weak standards like these, no wonder no one ever gets caught.

Speaking of the election, back by popular demand ...

The five best candidates you probably haven't heard of:

1. Alexis Gonzales-Black, State Board of Education, District 1 - Please, for the love of God, put this woman in a position to change an education system that desperately needs reform.

1. (tie) Allison Serafin, State Board of Education, District 3 - See above.

3. Wesley Duncan (R), Assembly District 37 - Attorney served as Air Force JAG in Iraqi justice system, sitting at the same table as sworn enemies. He can handle working across the aisle in Carson City.

4. Amy Chelini, Las Vegas Justice Court, Department 8 - Excellent balance of legal experience, even better demeanor.

5. Phil Regeski (R), Assembly District 41 - Engineer, small business owner knows state's most critical issues inside out, forward, backward and sideways.

The five worst candidates you probably haven't heard of:

1. Jonathan MacArthur, North Las Vegas Justice Court, Department 1 - Reprimanded this year by State Bar over allegation he tried to bribe a witness to change his testimony in a criminal case. Keep him far, far away from the bench.

2. Kelli Ross (D), Senate District 18 - Insists that Clark County School District teachers were not awarded a pay raise this year, and denies that any teaching positions were eliminated as a result of arbitrator's ruling in contract dispute. Yes, really.

3. Phung Jefferson, District Court Department 5 - Classic revenge candidacy against incumbent Carolyn Elsworth. Jefferson is the wife of disgraced former Assemblyman Morse Arberry, who was investigated by Elsworth, then with the secretary of state's office, for failing to report $120,000 in campaign contributions that ended up in his personal checking account.

4. Peggy Pierce (D), Assembly District 3 - Combine Che Guevara, Lisbeth Salander (the protagonist in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") and a teenager with shopping addiction and you're getting close to describing this leftie.

5. Trish Marsh (R), Senate District 7 - Asked why she's running against incumbent David Parks, who happens to be gay: "He doesn't understand the family unit." Can't articulate a philosophy of government - or much else.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer. Follow him on Twitter: @Glenn_CookNV. Listen to him Mondays at 4 p.m. on "Live and Local with Kevin Wall" on KXNT News Radio, 100.5 FM, 840 AM.