Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:45 p.m. to include comments from Commissioner Mike Clark and an amicus brief filed by ACLU Nevada in the Secretary of State’s case against commissioners.
A routine recount of Washoe County’s primary results was put on hold this week when the county’s three GOP commissioners voted against the canvass of the election.
The unprecedented decision left the county in uncharted waters. State law requires commissioners to acknowledge the results before an election can be finalized.
According to Interim Registrar of Voters Cari-Ann Burgess, the no vote came as a shock.
“That was really hard for our office,” she said.
Elections workers were already exhausted from working long hours and a campaign by some Republican activists to undermine the county’s elections.
But Burgess said the worst part was the impact on the community.
“It takes the rights away from everybody who voted and every candidate who is on the ballot,” she explained.
One of the Republicans to vote against the canvass was Clara Andriola – who’s been the board’s lone swing vote since she was appointed to replace former commissioner Vaughn Hartung last year.
She joined her fellow GOP commissioners, Mike Clark and Jeanne Herman, both of whom have reliably refused to certify election results.
According to county records, Clark has never voted to canvass an election since he was elected to the board in 2022.
Since Herman joined the board in 2014, she’s voted along with her fellow commissioners to canvass four elections – until Nov. 2020, when she elected not to certify the results. She’s steadfastly refused to support a canvass since then.
Both Herman and Clark have the support of Robert Beadles, a prominent GOP donor who’s consistently shared election disinformation and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
A day after the failed canvass grabbed national headlines, state officials asked the Nevada Supreme Court to compel the board to certify the recount.
In a legal filing, Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar accused commissioners of breaking state law. He wants justices to compel them to canvass the election, which is required by Nevada Revised Statute.
“This vote has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for elections in Nevada,” Aguilar wrote in a press release. “It is unacceptable that any public officer would undermine the confidence of their voters.”
Late Friday afternoon, the ACLU of Nevada filed an amicus brief in the Secretary of State’s case, arguing justices should establish clear precedent requiring county commissioners to canvass election results.
“It is critical for the Court to provide guidance here or there remains a grave risk the General Election of 2024 will turn into an extended crisis should other counties seek to circumvent Nevada law,” it said.
But a reversal by one of the commissioners might settle the matter before then. On Wednesday, Andriola asked board chair Alexis Hill for a chance to reconsider her vote during the next regular meeting on July 16.
That process will wipe the slate clean, and allow commissioners to take up the original motion once more.
Clark said in a phone interview he hadn’t yet decided how he would vote for the reconsidered motion to canvass the recount.
“I’ll tell you what I am consistent on: Demanding the Registrar of Voters clean up the voter rolls,” he said.
Clark explained he’s most concerned by the cost of mailing ballots to voters who may no longer live at their previous addresses.
“Why is it the county doesn’t care if the Registrar of Voters’ rolls are in order?” he asked.
But Burgess said the county’s rolls are in good shape – and explained there are strict federal guidelines around removing inactive voters from the list.
“It's also up to every single member of our community,” she said. “If you get a ballot in the mail for somebody who does not live at your residence, you need to absolutely give that back.”
County staff can only remove an inactive voter after receiving returned ballots for that person in two general elections – a four-year process.
Meanwhile, Burgess hopes the board will reverse course – and allow her staff to finalize the results, so they can focus on preparing for the general election in November.
“If they don't canvass that vote, that means that we cannot do the rest of our jobs,” she said.
