Reid and Angle fight could spill into December

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Republican Sharron Angle has urged tea party crowds to give Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a November to remember by booting him out of office, but a divided electorate and voter fraud allegations could delay the outcome of the nation's most closely watched race until December.

Polls and early voting results suggest the race is in a dead heat, and each side is preparing for a dragged out battle.

Republican lawyers have also laid the foundation for a fierce legal fight, claiming voter fraud and intimidation in the final days of the race.

Secretary of State Ross Miller said he was confident Nevada is hosting a fair election.

"We prepare every election with the mindset that should it ultimately be very close, that we have the proper procedures in place," Miller said. "From my standpoint, if a recount occurs we are not going to administer that recount any differently than we would for the local swimming pool district race."

Here's how the recount process works:

The Nevada Supreme Court is slated to review and declare the official election results on Nov. 23.

Once the declaration is made, a losing candidate has three working days to submit a written recount request. The challenger must pay for the estimated cost of the recount upfront.

The recount must occur within five days after the demand is filed. The recount must be completed within five days.

Members of recount boards cannot be of the same political party or relatives of the candidate seeking the recount.

Once the recount is finished in all counties, the secretary of state will release the results to the public.

If the challenger prevails, their money is refunded and the state covers the cost of the recount.

GOP officials have planted seeds that suggest they could challenge the election results.

Nevada Republican Party legal counsel David O'Mara filed a 44-page complaint last week that claimed daily polling logs in Clark and Washoe counties showed the number of ballots cast was larger than the number of voters who signed the election registers in a handful of instances.

Angle's campaign also claimed Reid and Democratic union backers were illegally buying votes with free food and Starbucks gift cards in repeated e-mails to supporters.

Reid's campaign responded that Angle supporters were intimidating voters by taking pictures outside precincts.

No campaign hopes for a recount, but disputed elections are always a possibility in Nevada, where tight races are not uncommon.

"Sharron has been pulling away in the polls and independents are overwhelmingly supporting her over Harry," spokesman Jarrod Agen said. "We do have a team of lawyers on the ground, but their main focus now is on Election Day activities and making sure that there is no voter fraud taking place."

Reid's campaign is also hopeful it will secure a substantial enough victory to avoid a recount.

"Unlike Sharron Angle, Sen. Reid actually wants people to get out and vote and we will work to ensure that every vote is counted in this election," spokesman Kelly Steele said. "While Republicans will try every trick in the book, we're focused on getting every vote possible for Sen. Reid so we can win by a margin that would negate any need for a recount."

Reid and Angle are no strangers to contested elections.

Reid forced a recount after losing to U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt by a little more than 600 votes in 1974. Reid didn't make it to Washington that year.

In Nevada's last statewide recount in 1998, Reid was re-elected by 428 votes after Republican John Ensign paid $59,108 for a second count.

Roughly 400 votes also decided Angle's political fate in 2006, when she came in second in a northern Nevada congressional primary race.

She sidestepped a costly recount process and instead tried to trigger a new election in court. The case failed.

This year, Democrats hold about a 60,000 registration edge statewide over the GOP, but all signs indicate a close election.

In southern Nevada, Democrats have a 23,000 edge in early votes in Clark County, though that lags their 12-point registration advantage there.

In Washoe County, which includes Reno and where registration is roughly split, Republicans turned out 45 percent of early voters, compared to 40 percent for Democrats.