Dirty politics, ineligibility make mess of Assembly District election

The 29,152 voters in Assembly District 34 have been cursed with problems this election. Illegal mailers and robocalls marred the primary, and the general has been muddied by finding the Democratic candidate wasn’t eligible to run. She didn’t live in the district 30 days before filing, as the law requires.

That leaves Republican Victoria Seaman. One choice is no choice.

In the four-way Democratic primary, there were four choices, but illegal mailers (illegal because they didn’t say who sent them out) knocked out Gary Fisher.

Anonymous mailers and anonymous calls portrayed Fisher as a drug addict, pushing him into second place by a mere 22 votes, even though he had the backing of the Democratic Party.

Meghan Smith won the Democratic primary for this mostly Summerlin and mostly Democratic district. There are 3,719 more registered Democrats than Republicans. By the numbers, this should be a Democratic district.

The Assembly Democratic Caucus filed a formal complaint about the illegal campaign practices June 2. Secretary of State Ross Miller’s office, which is supposed to protect the integrity of elections, said that investigation is still open five months later. His office’s investigation isn’t exactly whipping along.

Miller’s spokeswoman Catherine Lu said the office doesn’t comment on open cases, so we don’t know why the investigation lagged. This is one of 64 election complaints filed in 2014. “We’ve closed 51 cases, and 13 remain open,” Lu said. In only two cases, did the attorney general’s office file civil lawsuits.

Voters deserve to know if those mailers and calls were sent by Fisher’s Democratic opponents, Smith, Sanje Sedera or Fayyaz Raja or their representatives. They deserve to know if Republican Victoria Seaman or someone on her team decided to play dirty politics to knock out Fisher, who appeared to be the leading candidate before the anonymous attacks began.

Fisher, a psychologist, had written about past battles with drugs and alcohol, and those issues were the basis of the ugly anonymous mailers and robocalls that poured into homes in the district, including mine. He ignored the attacks and stayed positive.

That was strike one in District 34, where illegal tactics eliminated a qualified candidate in the primary.

Strike two was a successful residency challenge against the Democratic primary winner — Meghan Smith —before the general election.

Judge Nancy Allf found Smith didn’t live in the district 30 days before she filed. So Smith was ruled ineligible to run. There will be big signs saying so outside the polling places on Election Day. But Smith is still campaigning and seeking votes.

Smith, in her third run for the Assembly, is hoping she can emulate Andrew Martin, who was deemed ineligible to represent Assembly District 9 two years ago when District Judge Rob Bare decided he didn’t live in his district 30 days before filing, because Martin plugged his electric car in at night in another home outside the district.

Despite that, Martin defeated the Republican and was seated by the Assembly, which was controlled by Democrats. (Martin is now running for state controller.)

If Smith wins, the same thing could happen. It will be harder for her than Martin because he didn’t have signs outside polling places saying he was ineligible. Smith will.

That leaves voters with three options. Vote for Seaman. Or vote for Smith, hoping she would be seated like Martin was. Or don’t vote.

Why did it take so long to determine Smith and Martin were ineligible? Aren’t these cases supposed to be expedited? Judge Nancy Allf made her decision Oct. 16, the complaint was filed Aug. 8. That’s a delay of more than two months.

Judge Bare’s decision was the day before the November 2012 election. The complaint was filed Oct. 2, 2012. That’s slightly more than one month.

The next secretary of state, either Kate Marshall or Barbara Cegavske, needs to work with the Legislature to fix some of these election problems, especially uncovering who is behind clearly illegal campaign practices.

I want answers and solutions. And I want the judges and secretary of state’s office to do their jobs with some semblance of speed and efficiency.

Is that too much to ask?

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Thursdays. Email her at jmorrison@reviewjournal.com or leave a message at 702-383-0275. Follow her on Twitter @janeannmorrison.