Count is a coup for Ron Paul backers or Nevada GOP Election Fraud

[Sled Dog]

Count is a coup for Ron Paul backers
BY ANJEANETTE DAMON • adamon@rgj.com • October 30, 2009

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Buzz up!Twitter Next Page1| 2Previous PageA group of disaffected Republicans said they felt vindicated Friday night after a count of missing delegate ballots from last year’s GOP state convention proved three delegates supporting U.S. Rep. Ron Paul should have been sent to the national convention.



The count has no bearing on the outcome of Nevada’s role in nominating U.S. Sen. John McCain as the party’s presidential nominee last year. But Paul supporters said the count removes a “sliver” that has been aggravating divisions within the state party since the state convention was abruptly aborted in April 2008.


“This is going to help the party heal,” Paul backer Jim Uprichard said. “Every time we have a Republican meeting people ask ‘Where are the ballots?’ This is the truth and you can’t heal without the truth.”


About 25 Republicans gathered Friday at the Washoe County party headquarters to count the ballots that had spent nearly 18 months locked in a casino cashiers cage at the Peppermill, where the state convention was held.
The convention was abruptly shut down by party leaders before the ballots for delegates from the 2nd Congressional District could be fully counted. The district was allowed to choose three of the state’s 34 national delegates.


According to Friday’s count, Paul delegate Robert Terhune won the most votes, with 288. Paul supporters Marla Criss and Pat Kerby had 283 votes each.
The delegates who actually went to the national convention for the 2nd Congressional District were Michelle Beard, who received 12 votes; Fely Quitevis, who received 19 votes; and Barbara Scoville who received no votes.


“It’s good to get it done,” said Wayne Terhune, a Reno dentist who helped organize Paul’s supporters. “It’s nice to be vindicated. The fact the three Ron Paul people won, indicates that might have been the reason they shut down the convention. Now it’s done. We can put it behind us.”


Last April, Republican leaders shut down the state convention after delegates, led by a contingent of Paul supporters, won a rules change that allowed them to change the way national delegates were elected. A box of ballots from the 2nd Congressional District that had been partially counted was locked in the cashiers cage after the convention ended.