Troubles abound at special Las Vegas caucus

LAS VEGAS — Angry Ron Paul supporters overtook a special caucus Saturday night for religious voters who honor the Sabbath, prompting long lines, frantic GOP officials and voter fraud complaints.

The Las Vegas caucus was supposed to start hours after the rest of the state concluded its Republican presidential caucuses. But party officials were still frantically trying to sign in voters an hour after it was scheduled to start, further delaying election results from Nevada's most populous county.

Part of the trouble was some Paul supporters told voters they could show up for the late-night caucus at a suburban Jewish private school for whatever reason. But voters could only participate if they signed a declaration affirming that they couldn't vote during the regular morning caucuses because of their faith.

Most supporters signed the declaration without hesitation, after confirming to an Associated Press reporter that they had missed the earlier caucuses for other reasons.

Stay-at-home mother Cindy Koogler, 33, said she tried to vote in the morning, but was turned away after arriving an hour late because she was caring for her young son. A Paul supporter told her about the Saturday night caucus.

"When you have a kid and he's in the middle of potty-training, you can't take him with you," she said of the morning vote.

Koogler said she signed the declaration saying she was a religious voter and was not questioned.

But one Paul supporter refused to go along with the ruse, saying Republican leaders were encouraging voters to perjure themselves and refusing to move from the head of the line as Jewish rabbis, families with young children and elderly voters patiently waited in line behind him to be allowed into the caucus location.

"People are lying as they are walking in," the protester, high school teacher Stephen McLancon, yelled at organizers. "You are setting them up to lie."

Clark County GOP chair David Gibbs said he wasn't sure how officials would address the voters who weren't actually there because of the Sabbath, adding that it was up to each person to tell the truth.

"They have to make that decision for themselves when they sign it," Gibbs said.

The Paul surge paid off. He won the special caucus with 183 votes. Romney came in second with 61, Gingrich had 57 and Santorum had 16 votes.