GOP voters ask judge to toss out registration case

LAS VEGAS - Two Republican voters asked a Nevada judge on Monday to reject a Democrat's request to reopen voter registration based on his claim that his voter application form was destroyed by a GOP-funded group.

Nevada law doesn't allow for registration to be reopened, and one voter's complaint shouldn't apply broadly to all voters, said the motion filed by lawyer Thomas Kummer in Clark County District Court.

"Our whole issue here is not political," Kummer said on behalf of Republicans Elena Brady of Reno and John Hambrick, a retired Secret Service agent and unsuccessful Las Vegas City Council candidate. "There's a process to follow."

Kummer earlier fought a state Democratic party lawsuit that sought to reopen registration after allegations surfaced that Voters Outreach of America canvassers destroyed voter application forms from Democrats.

A judge refused to reopen voter registration Oct. 15, and Democrats have not appealed.

Clark County District Judge Sally Loehrer is scheduled Thursday to hear Kummer's request to intervene in the most recent case filed by Dwight Brandon, a 44-year-old caterer from Las Vegas.

Brandon's lawsuit filed Thursday asks the court to order Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax to accept voter applications before the Nov. 2 election from people who say they tried to register with Voters Outreach of America.

The state voter registration deadline was Oct. 2.

The motion from Brady and Hambrick says Brandon is entitled only to ask a judge for his individual voter registration to be considered, not for the "broad relief" Brandon's lawsuit seeks.

Brandon claimed he signed up to vote with a canvasser at a Las Vegas mall, but discovered later he was not registered. Voices for Working Families, a Las Vegas nonprofit, is providing Brandon's legal representation.

Nathan Sproul, an Arizona subcontractor hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters with Voters Outreach of America, has denied that registration forms from Democrats were destroyed.