Felons slip through the net of voter registration rules.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Michael Martinez and Geoff Dougherty

LAS VEGAS _ Shuttling frenetically from desk to desk, Clark County election official Catherine Smith was racking up another 12-hour day during Nevada's early voting last week as an investigator on the front lines of registration fraud in this year's presidential election.

Last month alone, the elections supervisor found 805 felons who appeared to be illegal registrants, her second largest catch of possibly improper voters since 1994 changes in national election laws.

The discovery of possible illegal and fraudulent registration, coming on the heels of huge and expensive efforts by both parties to register voters, augurs a contentious aftermath to the election. That may be particularly true in swing states like Nevada, where attorneys for both parties are gathering and suggesting post-Election Day legal challenges.

Smith's inquiry led to the purging of the felons unless they could prove, as some did, their civil rights had been restored in Nevada or their convictions were from a state with no voting restrictions on felons.

Her computerized dragnet identified the 805 individuals last month and 63 more in September, a seemingly small number compared with the more than 800,000 voters in Clark County, but possibly a make-or-break figure in this year's presidential race. The margin of victory in 2000 came down to a few hundred votes, and this year appears just as close.

Despite Smith's efforts, there may be more felons on the rolls in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.