October 13th, 2004

With less than three weeks left before election day, allegations of voter registration fraud have surfaced in our state. Nevada Democrats are pointing the finger at the National Republican Party, claiming workers hired to register voters destroyed forms filled out by Democrats. News 3's Stacey Escalante reports Nevada Democrats have no idea how many people could be affected so they want voters to check their registration status.

One of the easiest ways to do it is go online to the Election Department web site. Scroll to the bottom and you can type in your information. If you're not registered you still have options.

A real estate auction is where Rick Korbel was headed, but he got sidetracked along the way when he saw and heard this. "And we ask how in the world people have faith in government if a national party is involved in trickery? People have the right to vote."

Nevada Democrats gathered to announce they have evidence a group called Voters Outreach of America is trying to steal the election. "It was exposed that this group hired and trained employees to register solely Republicans and cast aside voter affidavits of Democrats."

As a Republican, Rick Korbel tried to get some answers. "I'm only going to respond to the media." So we asked rick some questions. "Do I think it's a widespread conspiracy? No. Do I think Democrats are making a bigger deal out of this than they should? Yes. Should the people involved be brought up on charges? Definitely."

The FBI is looking into the matter but is not officially investigating it at this point. In the meantime, anyone who believes their voter registration form may have been tampered with can call 455-VOTE to check, and even if there is no record of your registration, early voting is still an option but you must ask for a provisional ballot.

A provisional ballot means that you can't vote for any of the local races but you can still vote for the federal offices. Again, you can check if you are registered by using the link above. We should add Secretary of State Dean Heller is looking into this and he's asked the Department of Justice for assistance.

We contacted the Republican Party for comment. They issued this release to us. Communications Director Jim Dyke says, "The GOP has a zero tolerance policy for any type of fraudulent activity involving the registering of voters." He says anyone who engages in this type of activity should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

If you think that you've been in contact with the group, Voters Outreach of America, please contact us at news3@kvbc.com.