(Oct. 25) -- Voter registration in Nevada has been closed for almost two weeks. Legal efforts are still alive to get it reopened. But now, a lawsuit claims that would be unfair, even to those who were disenfranchised by fraud.
According to the legal action filed Monday, the reopening of voter registration would dilute the voting power of those who managed to get registered before the deadline. This lawsuit was filed in response to a complaint last week that alleged local voters have been disenfranchised because of fraud committed by a registration company hired by the Republican Party.
Las Vegas attorney, Thomas Kummer said, "I'm a registered democrat, so I don't have an axe to grind." Attorney Kummer says the lawsuit he filed Monday has nothing to do with politics, but is purely a matter of law.
Specifically, his suit argues, no district court has the power to reopen voter registration, especially not for a whole group of people who may or may not have been victimized by Voters Outreach of America, the republican backed registration company that's been the subject of numerous complaints.
Last week, another voter rights group filed a complaint on behalf of Las Vegan Dwight Brandon, who says he was stripped of his right to vote when someone threw away his registration form. His complaint asks that he be allowed to register and that anyone else who was disenfranchised be allowed to do so as well.
Kummer says there's no way that can happen, and that if it did, it would dilute the votes of those who registered before the deadline. "It creates a situation where, if you think there's fraud now, there will be a lot more of it later on. It opens up Pandora's box to allow this."
While Kummer says his suit isn't political, he declined to say who his client is. The action lists two interveners, including Las Vegan John Hambrick, who earlier this year ran for state office as a republican.
Kummer would not say how he hooked up with Hambrick and would not allow Hambrick to talk to the I-Team, nor would he say if he was hired by the Republican Party. "I don't think that's the crux of what we're doing," Kummer said.
"Whether this was democrat or republican, from a legal perspective, it doesn't make any difference," Kummer continued.
When asked if he was hired by the Republican Party, he replied, "I can't tell you that. It's privileged."
Politics aside, Kummer will argue that Dwight Brandon's complaint has other problems, most notably that Brandon knew 30 days before the deadline that his registration wasn't filed, so why did he wait so long?
The I-Team spoke Monday afternoon with Norm Kirshman, the attorney for Dwight Brandon. He declined to appear on camera but said he intends to ask the court for quote, "...extraordinary relief so that his client is allowed to vote."
A hearing on these matters is set for Thursday, which doesn't leave much time for more registrations before next week's election.
