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New vote ordered in North Las Vegas race
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Richard Cherchio
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Wade Wagner
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Jun. 16, 2011 | 7:33 a.m.
Some voters in North Las Vegas will get a municipal election mulligan.
The City Council on Wednesday night decided to redo part of the Ward 4 election because an ineligible vote was cast in the valley's tightest election race last week.
The ballot, cast in the heated Ward 4 contest between incumbent City Councilman Richard Cherchio and dentist Wade Wagner, threw into question the race's outcome.
Cherchio lost the election by a single vote.
Only voters in precinct 4306 -- the precinct in which the ineligible vote was cast -- will be able to recast their votes in the contest. Details about how the new election will be administered will be decided next week.
Mayor Shari Buck abstained from the vote after disclosing that she had donated to Wagner's campaign and that her husband had worked for the campaign "and was paid." She and Cherchio left the council chambers during a discussion and vote.
Council members Anita Wood and Robert Eliason disclosed that they had donated to Cherchio's campaign but didn't feel they needed to abstain from the vote. They and Councilman William Robinson voted unanimously to let residents of the precinct recast their ballots.
"The voter decides who sits here," Wood said. "I don't get to usurp that decision."
Wagner said he was disappointed with the council's decision and will "spend time with my team" to discuss options.
"It does kind of change the entire game," he said, adding that he's concerned the decision could disenfranchise some voters.
Cherchio agreed with the council.
"There was a problem with the vote," he said.
From a resident's standpoint, "I'd want the opportunity to do it again," Cherchio said.
The situation arose after a voter who wasn't eligible was allowed to cast a ballot. The voter was registered in Ward 3 but recently had moved into Ward 4. Though he had not updated his registration, he showed up at a polling place with identification showing his new address.
An election worker mistakenly thought he was allowed to vote there because he had moved into the precinct.
Officials don't know whether the ineligible vote was for Wagner or Cherchio. Once ballots are cast, they are mixed and can't be traced back to a specific voter.
Cherchio lost the election with 1,830 votes versus Wagner's 1,831. Who won in the precinct in question was not discussed.
The city retained attorney Matt Griffin, former deputy secretary of state for elections, to advise council members of their options at the meeting.
"No election is perfect," Griffin told the council. He added that there have been no allegations of fraud or intentional misconduct on the part of the voter who cast the ineligible vote.
How much the cash-strapped city will have to pay to redo part of the Ward 4 election had not been figured. How long it will take to plan and complete a new election was unclear. Griffin recommended the council again include absentee ballots, which can take weeks.
Cherchio will be relieved of his duty on the council July 1, leaving four members until the election is resolved.
The results of the city's other races -- City Council Ward 2 and Municipal Court Department 1 -- were certified by the council Wednesday.
Cherchio, 64, was appointed to the Ward 4 seat in 2009 when Buck was elected mayor. Wagner, 48, won the election after a hard-fought race that was overshadowed by the war between Cherchio and the city's public safety unions. The police and fire unions opposed Cherchio, even campaigning against him door to door, because the councilman voted for cuts to public safety to save money.
The city, which faces a $30.3 million shortfall in fiscal 2012, last month adopted a budget that includes slashing 258 positions across city departments, including those of 40 firefighters and 18 police officers. The firefighters received pink slips earlier this week.
Council members serve four-year terms and earn $41,827 a year.
Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@review journal.com or 702-383-0285.
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Hey Richard Cherchio, just sit back and see who the Voters want to elect to the Ward 4 position, don't think you running another candidate down, and bombing ther Voters with all your phone calls, litature coming in the mail will make any one's decision up, but just make them disgusted. It amazes me where all the money comes from to get a person elected/relected, and then if sucessful, turn out just like all the Politicians thru out the United States,,Example Ensign and Weiner, and sure there will be many more exposed in the near future..................If the voters want you then you will be elected, if not then you won't be, simply as that, accept it!!!!!!!! About the City of NLV spending money on the Golf Course on Craig Road, new City Hall, etc, I was told by a City Official that all comes out of a seperate funds that are sat aside for that purpose...........Let's see how long it takes the Politicians in NLV and Las Vegas to take down their signs all over the City, like the Woman who lost the Mayors race to Carolyn Goodman, understand also they have 60 to take them down after the election is over, do they get tickets if they don't, I doubt it......Lot's of money wasted, except for the sign companies who make them, that has to be very expensive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can Cities like NLV file Bankruptcy, to reorganize!!!!!!
And I am not looking forward to hearing from Cherchio's camp and himself with all the coming litature that will be arriving in the mail, phone calls (Remember this Richard Cherchio Las Vegas has many people who work in Casino's, etc and work different shifts and sleep different hours than you do, and do not appreciated the phone ringing and answering it and it is a Politician wanting to be elected/relected, you want to give some one a bad day the phone calls will do it, sit down to dinner and the phone rings and get a recording wanting you to support Cherchio, now that is disgusting!!
Him being a retired with 24 years service to the USPS, and if he indeed owns a condo in the Turnberry Place, plus two other homes, and earning $41.000 a year for being on the City Council, no wonder this guy is pleading for the Councilman's position in NLV........Cherchio is 64, why don't he just retire, I live in Ward 4, and to my knowledge see where he has done any thing what so ever for this Ward, he may disagree, show me what you have accomplished, other than lay Women and Men off, so you can maintain your wages with the City of NLV.....Asking people to attend Dinner fundraisers to keep him as a Councilman, don't make sense to me...Instead of laying Police off, and claim they are short handed and can't be every where at the same time, the City needs to cut other budgets and keep the Police and Fire Persons............
City of NLV slogan is ' COMMUNITY BY CHOICE'' whose choice are they referring to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey David, go back to libertarian land until you can tell me why police are fraudulent!
@SweetCandy. "Are the police fraudulent also?" Yes. Where have you been?
Yes, I applaud the mayor! She did what was right by not voting! Do you think that her husband is raking in the money? I seriously doubt he is even making good money. The entire campaign only raised $109,000. Do you know how expensive it is to print signs? I have bought flyers before, they're not cheap! Again... Think before you make these stupid accusations. I'm very hesitant to believe info from a politician. I didn't believe Cherchio (a retired mail man with a single income) could afford a $800,000 dollar condo on the strip until I researched it and found out he did, along with 2 other houses! (must be getting money under the table....can anyone say AMR? But that's besides the pointe) the point is RESEARCH stuff before you believe it! Atleast the mayor had respect for the citizens when she chose to leave her biased opinion out of the vote! Too bad the other 3 are too selfish and emotionally driven, to care about the citizens.
Sweetcndy- You applaud the Mayor because she "refrained from voting because of her involvement." Clearly, the fact that her husband was a paid worker on Wagner's campaign is sufficient reason for her to recuse herself from using the office of Mayor and her position of public trust to affect any outcome in this contest. If she was so ethical why her sudden "refrain," why did she use her title of Mayor on a flyer endorsing Wagner without disclosing to the public her conflict? The Mayor should have disclosed her involvement-husbands salary- when she told us Wagner was good for NLV (and her bank account) during the campaign. If it is unethical now it was unethical then.
Are the police fraudulent also? I can't believe that people believe the fire department is ballsey enough to walk door to door because they don't want their pay reduced! Maybe.... just maybe... They don't want public safety (fire, police, ems) units taken off the streets and their citizens put in harms way. so that the city council can continue to waste money on parks, millions or dollars on new furniture for city hall, new elections, water reclamation facilities....etc, etc. People just don't think before they fall into these lies. You know why it doesn't sound right? BECAUSE IT'S NOT!!
For everyone who cast a ballot in Ward IV, the real issue for all of us should be the integrity of the election process. Precisely because the election resulted in a one vote margin and then one vote was deemed improper, every precaution must be taken to ensure that required act of canvassing the election - certifying the vote - is done in a way that protects the entire process. For those of you who think this is too expensive, what would be the cost to all of us as Americans and citizens in a free country if we allowed little improprieties in the voting process (like an improperly registered voter) to undermine our confidence in the election process itself? What cost has already been paid by those who have died to ensure that we have not only a right to vote but confidence in our election processes? This is a very valid question even at the local level. Voter registration rules and processes are very clear, and they are in place so that we can have utmost confidence, under any circumstance, that the basic freedom of casting a ballot in an election is not a sham.
The fact of the matter is - this race was very close, and no matter what the Council chose to do, they were going to make at least HALF of the voters in Ward IV unhappy. Certify the vote - Cherchio voters unhappy. Call a new election for one precinct - Wagner voters unhappy. In the end, a winner will be determined. The passion expressed in these posts demostrates that we all care very much about the process for selecting that person. Rather than trading barbs over who is the best or worst candidate, or who said or did what, we should all be most concerned with maintaining the integrity of that process. Having an improper vote in one precinct would not be a big deal if the voting results in Ward IV did not have a one vote margin. But it makes a very big deal if we simply try to sweep it under the rug and go with whatever is most expedient. Larger issues are at stake.
Now the fire fraud union gets another chance to steal the election. What a joke!
And to prove your biased, the vote wasent "illegal"! If it was "illegal" charges would be pressed! I am so tired of these cherchio supporters, bullying the citizens around with their lies!