Reform, Green Parties Qualified for Nevada Ballot

Pam Crowell, elections deputy for Secretary of State Dean Heller, said a signature verification showed the Reform Party turned in 5,042 valid signatures, well over the 3,761 required signatures of registered voters.

Nevada volunteers for the party turned over more than 6,000 names to county clerks and registrars around the state.

Of the 5,042 valid signatures, 3,385 were from Clark County and 1,466 were from Washoe County. Humboldt County contributed 157, followed by Carson City with 26, Douglas County with five and Elko County with three.

Crowell said the party has until Sept. 3 to turn in the name of its nominee for president - to be decided next month. Former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, a lifelong Democrat, is challenging Perot for the nomination.

Many of Lamm's early supporters helped Perot to his 19 percent showing in the 1992 presidential election and then collected thousands of signatures to make the Reform Party a reality.

But a recent national survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center showed 46 percent of those who voted for Perot in 1992 said they wouldn't do it again.

In the case of the Green Party, Crowell said its Nevada representatives had 3,992 valid signatures on a ballot access petition - exceeding the minimum requirement by only 231 names.

The Greens got nearly all of their signatures in Washoe County - 3,935 of the total. The balance came from Clark County.

The Green Party also has until Sept. 3 to turn in the name of its presidential nominee - probably consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The group is holding its national convention Aug. 15-20 in Los Angeles.

Nader already is on the ballot in several other states but is not actively campaigning or accepting contributions.

But he has strongly supported the Green Party, recently saying it will help to "launch the green waves and breezes of a resurgent democracy across this land."

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