Court tosses election challenge in Nevada

RENO, Nev. — A judge Tuesday tossed out a legal challenge aimed at blocking Nevada’s five electoral votes from being cast this month for President Bush. In election challenges in two other states, a recount was sought and another was ended.

The plaintiffs in the Nevada case, who described themselves as concerned citizens, had asked the judge to schedule a hearing so they could prove their claims of voter registration fraud and malfunctioning voting machines.

Washoe County District Judge Peter Breen said in dismissing the case that they couldn’t show the outcome of the presidential election would change if it went forward.

“An election contest is a great disruption of the regular process,” Breen wrote. “The election should not be disturbed nor scrutinized by the court without a reasonable showing of a different outcome or an uncertain result.”

Bush carried Nevada by 21,500 votes and won the electoral vote nationally by a margin of 34 electoral votes, 286-252. Bush got 418,690 votes in Nevada to Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry’s 397,190.

It was not immediately clear if the ruling would be appealed.

The five GOP electors are scheduled to cast Nevada’s votes Dec. 13.

Elsewhere, two candidates sought a recount in New Mexico, while one ended in New Hampshire.

Green Party nominee David Cobb and Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik asked for a recount in all precincts in New Mexico and a recheck of voting machines.

“We feel that for protection of the voting process and ensuring that people have not only the right to vote but to have their vote count, that a recount is warranted,” Blair Bobier, a spokesman for Cobb’s campaign, said Tuesday.

It’s uncertain whether a recount could be completed before electors cast their five votes for Bush next month. Bush won New Mexico with 376,930 votes to Kerry’s 370,942. Badnarik received 2,382 votes and Cobb got 1,226.

In New Hampshire, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader’s requested 11-precinct hand recount ended with results changing little from initial tallies. Nader spokeswoman Amy Belanger called the results “a good statistical representation of the state.”

Statewide, Kerry defeated President Bush 50 percent to 49 percent while Nader got less than 1 percent from the state’s roughly 300 precincts. The Nader campaign spent about $14,000 for the recount.