Gates recall group appeals Heller's decision

A group whose petition to recall County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates failed has appealed the secretary of state's decision on the grounds that the signature verification process was unconstitutional and biased.

Citizens for Honest and Responsible Government filed an appeal Monday with Secretary of State Dean Heller, who last week ruled there were not enough valid signatures collected to go forward with a recall election.

The secretary's office received the appeal late in the afternoon, shortly before the election filing deadline for all state, federal and local offices.

"The secretary of state will review all of the material," Deputy Secretary for Elections Pamela Crowell said.

The appeal had to be filed within five working days of Heller's notification to the group that their recall petition failed. The secretary must read the appeal before deciding whether to consider its merits, and conduct an investigation if necessary.

"Unfortunately, they continue to waste taxpayer's money," Gates said. "What we should be focusing on is trying to improve quality of life for our families."

The group had filed 7,474 signatures with the Clark County Elections Department two weeks ago. After the signatures were counted, the elections department conducted a random sample of 503 signatures for verification. Only 244 of the signatures were found to be valid -- 49 short of the number needed to trigger a recall election, based on a complex formula used by the secretary.

The appeal, signed by the three people who filed to circulate the recall petition, said the verification process was not constitutional on the basis that nothing in the state constitution provides for a random sample.

The appeal also said that the witnesses were not given full access to observe the verification process in an "overzealous attempt to keep witnesses from interfering with the verification process...."

The appeal also claims an inherent conflict exists in having the registrar's office conduct the verification process, because the office is under the jurisdiction of the county commissioners.

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