Heller hopes review will strengthen process

Supporters of statewide ballot initiatives and local recall drives are keenly awaiting the outcome of a review of the 7,474 signatures submitted in a failed petition to recall Clark County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates.

Secretary of State Dean Heller has said he hopes the full-blown verification process will instill public confidence in the results of an earlier random sample taken by the Clark County Election Department. That, in turn, should prevent other groups from appealing his decisions if their petitions fail, he said.

"Rather than wait until the workers' rights or medical marijuana petition comes along, we need to verify the process now so we don't have to validate every signature later," Heller said.

Heller ordered the full verification in the aftermath of his prior ruling to fail the petition based on a random sample of 503 signatures. That sample came up 49 valid signatures short of the 293 needed to trigger a special election.

The group seeking Gates' recall appealed Heller's ruling on the grounds that the random sampling was unconstitutional and that they didn't have access to the verification process.

"Our key concern was to make sure all of them were counted," Charles Bennion said. He is the Las Vegas lawyer who founded Citizens for Honest and Responsible Government. "We put a lot of effort into everything and were frustrated by this random sampling."

The first phase of the verification -- entering the data and checking the signatures against digital signature cards -- was completed Monday, Clark County Registrar of Voters Kathryn Ferguson said. An audit of the signatures was expected to take until Wednesday.

If the full verification contradicts the results of the random sample, Heller could have a flood of petitioners on his hands demanding the same option if a random sample of their efforts also fails to produce enough valid signatures.

"I would tend to go for the full verification," Dan Burdish, executive director of the state Republican Party, said. The GOP is supporting a paycheck protection initiative that would require unions to get written permission from members before spending dues for political purposes.

However, Burdish said, the party is conducting an independent audit of all the signatures and won't submit any it feels are invalid. The party has collected 60,000 signatures; only 48,000 are required.

"I don't know that it's unconstitutional," Burdish said, "but I would think if you're out there getting signatures, you would want each one verified."

Dan Hart, who is heading up the medical marijuana initiative, said he didn't know what he would do if Heller rejected his petition.

"I'm hoping we're not in the position to challenge it," Hart said.

Glen Easter, whose group has appealed Heller's rejection of its petition to have North Las Vegas Councilwoman Paula Brown recalled, was more emphatic.

"I want all the signatures counted," Easter said. The petition filed by Citizens for Higher Ethics in Government was rejected because it came five signatures short of the 318 needed to trigger a full verification.

Those five signatures were deemed illegible. Easter has submitted affidavits that the signatures are valid, but the appeal is being held up pending the outcome of the Gates verification process.

Easter said that if all 2,730 signatures submitted were checked, elections officials would find more than enough to meet the 1,930 needed to trigger a recall election of Brown.

Aviva Gordon, a lawyer representing Gates in a legal challenge against Heller, said the secretary may have opened a Pandora's box by offering false hope to petition supporters without the proper authority.

"If I were representing somebody who submitted a petition for anything else, and that petition failed," Gordon said, "I would cite everything he's done in respect to the investigation of this petition and demand a full verification."

Gordon said the recall statute allows Heller to call for a full verification only if the results of a random sample fall within 90 percent to 100 percent of the total signatures needed to trigger a recall election. A hearing on Gordon's petition has been scheduled for Friday, after the verification process is supposed to be concluded.

"The statute doesn't call for every signature," Gordon said. "It is impractical and expensive and makes no sense to verify them all."

Heller said he decided to verify all the signatures as part of his right to investigate the appeal.

Chief Deputy Secretary Donald Reis estimated it would cost the state about $25,000 for overtime and lodging for 16 employees.

Ferguson estimated the cost of 20 full-time county staff and 10 temporary workers will run the county about $33,500 in regular pay and overtime.

Based on that, a full verification of the smaller recall petition against Brown would run an additional $13,340, she said.

Apply those numbers to verifying 90,000 signatures for three statewide petitions due June 16, and the county's cost rises to $87,840, Ferguson said.

Burdish said cost shouldn't matter.

"If 10 percent of the voting population of the last election thinks something is worthwhile enough to put on the ballot, then that's a worthwhile cost," Burdish said.

Bennion said: "Seeking ways to save money is applaudable, but not when it is infringing on constitutional rights."

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