LAS VEGAS (AP) - The federal government could send federal investigators to look into possible voter registration fraud in Clark County, state officials said.
"No decision has been made at this point but they would either assist or undertake their own separate investigation," Secretary of State spokesman Steve George said Thursday.
President Bush mentioned the subject on his visit Tuesday to Las Vegas, when he rode to the Las Vegas Convention Center with Secretary of State Dean Heller, Attorney General Brian Sandoval and Gov. Kenny Guinn.
"He brought it up and he was concerned," Heller told The Las Vegas Sun.
Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax first warned the public in July that his office was receiving a large number of suspect forms distributed by groups looking to register new voters in this tight election season.
Lomax originally turned over the matter to the FBI, which he said had declined to investigate.
The issue later went to the Nevada Division of Investigations, which continues to look into the matter, Heller said.
While the president was speaking Tuesday, Heller said he turned to presidential adviser Karl Rove on the matter. Rove told Heller he also was worried about the potential fraud and hoped to send in federal investigators.
Heller called it a "normal reaction" because of the troubles encountered in the last presidential race in Florida.
"I believe that the Department of Justice is very serious about making sure that when we run elections in this country, we don't have some of the same concerns," Heller said.
There were no issues with voter fraud in the primary election, Lomax said.
Bush did compliment Heller on the state's new touch screen voting machines, Guinn said.
"He said he thought it was a real leap for the nation," Guinn said.
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Information from: Las Vegas Sun, http://www.lasvegassun.com
