{"id":2284449,"date":"2024-06-27T08:16:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T12:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-nevadas-clark-county-election-transparency-misses-the-mark\/"},"modified":"2024-06-27T08:26:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T12:26:00","slug":"in-nevadas-clark-county-election-transparency-misses-the-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-nevadas-clark-county-election-transparency-misses-the-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"In Nevada&#8217;s Clark County, Election Transparency Misses The Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fin-nevadas-clark-county-election-transparency-misses-the-mark%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2284449&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Nevguna \u2062has one of the most open election observation laws in the U.S., allowing any member of\u2062 the public to observe the process. However, despite legislative\u2064 intentions for transparency, the Clark\u200b County \u200cElections Department faces challenges\u200d in implementing these practices effectively, especially following the adoption of\u2063 AB 321. This law mandates sending mail-in ballots to all voters on the active\u2064 registration list, complicating the verification process due to\u2064 the high volume of mail-in ballots, leading to significant delays in\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-gets-voting-results-fast-heres-what-they-do\/\" title=\"Florida Gets Voting Results Fast. Here\u2019s What They Do.\">reporting election results<\/a>. In 2022,\u2062 efforts to improve transparency included displaying signature verifications publicly, but \u2064by 2024, these practices seem to \u200chave regressed.\u2064 Observers faced restrictions, such as limited movement and communication during their visits to the central count facility. Additionally, concerns have risen about\u2063 the\u200d efficiency\u200b and transparency of the \u200dbipartisan requirement for the ballot review boards\u2062 and the methodology\u200d used for verifying signatures, with more\u200d emphasis on\u200c human review purportedly to \u200bincrease verification security. while \u2062there\u200c are mechanisms aimed at enhancing observation and transparency, actual implementation and \u200cpractices still show significant shortcomings,\u200d raising questions about the \u200deffectiveness and\u200b fairness \u2064of the electoral process\u200b in Clark County.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Nevada enjoys one of the freest observation laws in the country. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leg.state.nv.us\/nrs\/nrs-293.html#NRS293Sec274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NRS 293.274<\/a> requires that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ky-election-reform-bill-gains-bipartisan-support\/\" title=\"Ky. election reform bill gains bipartisan support\">county clerks<\/a> allow \u201cmembers of the general public\u201d to observe the elections. In most states, observers must be affiliated with a candidate or a political party. But in the interest of transparency, the Nevada Legislature has written a law that allows anyone who is interested to come and observe.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the Clark County Elections Department hasn\u2019t lived up to this statutory promise. In 2022, the Clark County Elections Department was overwhelmed with mail-in ballots as a result of the passage of <a href=\"https:\/\/legiscan.com\/NV\/bill\/AB321\/2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AB 321<\/a>, which required that all voters on the active <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fridays-fun-fraud-fact-mysterious-spike-in-incomplete-nv-voter-registrations-13372-with-invalid-birthdates-and-casinos-and-temporary-rv-parks-as-a-home-address\/\" title=\"FRIDAY'S FUN FRAUD FACT: Mysterious Spike in Incomplete NV Voter Registrations - 13,372 with Invalid Birthdates and Casinos and Temporary RV Parks as a Home Address\">voter registration<\/a> list receive a mail-in ballot. The ballots are sent out 15 days in advance and must be returned by the close of business on the Saturday after the election. To verify the identity of the voters, elections officials are required to verify the signatures of the voters returning the ballots. This process has become long, is riddled with error, and has twice in recent years caused Nevada to be the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/11\/10\/us\/elections\/nevada-vote-count.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">last<\/a> state to report results in national elections.<\/p>\n<p>During the 2022 election cycle, the Clark County Elections Department made strides toward transparency by allowing signatures that were being verified to be displayed on an overhead projector. They also worked with conservative and nonpartisan groups to improve meaningful observation.<\/p>\n<p>However, it seems that these improvements in transparency have decreased in 2024. The Texas Public Policy Foundation\u2019s (TPPF) <a href=\"https:\/\/866ourvote.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Election Protection Project<\/a> sent observers to the Clark County central count facility during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-gop-turn-up-pressure-on-top-contenders-in-2024-race-with-loyalty-pledge-requirement\/\" title=\"Florida GOP increases pressure on 2024 contenders with loyalty pledge demand.\">presidential preference primary<\/a> and regular primary elections in February and June.<\/p>\n<p>The Clark County Elections office wouldn\u2019t give a definite time for observation and would not allow the observers to take a tour of the facility before Election Day. The observers were made to sit in a long rectangular room behind glass where they could not meaningfully observe what was happening. Each observer could only move around if escorted by two different elections staff members and wasn\u2019t permitted to ask questions to anyone except the director, who was not present.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, in 2024, the signature review panels did not utilize the same screen they had provided in 2022 to allow observers to monitor how signatures are reviewed and approved. A machine called an Agilis machine checks ballot signatures against voter registration and DMV signatures and analyzes whether they match or not.<\/p>\n<p>Past litigation has challenged whether how strong the verification method on the Agilis machine is set affects the accuracy of verification. In 2024, election officials stated that they kept the machine verification settings light to send more ballots to human ballot review boards for verification. To election officials, more human analysis meant a more secure verification process.<\/p>\n<p>Ballots that are rejected by the machines are sent to a ballot review board that must be \u201cbipartisan.\u201d However, this bipartisan requirement may be satisfied with one Democrat and one Republican, one Democrat and one independent, or one Republican and one independent. The TPPF observers in the signature verification room witnessed a few signature verification panels operating with just one instead of two board members.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the Clark County Elections Office has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reviewjournal.com\/news\/politics-and-government\/clark-county\/county-wont-be-forced-to-hire-more-republicans-for-signature-verification-2669479\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hired <\/a>temporary workers to serve on the signature verification boards, which raises questions as to how the partisan identity of those workers is determined. If the county is relying on review boards for increased security, then it is essential to know who is on the board and their standards for review. There is currently very little transparency regarding who is actually reviewing signatures.<\/p>\n<p>This fall, electors in Nevada will vote on an amendment to the state Constitution to require photo identification to vote and new signature verification requirements. If adopted, Nevadans would use an identifying number, such as a Social Security number or driver\u2019s license number, to sign their ballots instead of a signature. This method has been adopted in other states, such as Georgia, and has provided increased security. It would also eliminate the need for signature verification boards that have no transparency or oversight by the public.<\/p>\n<p>The Nevada secretary of state has also changed the rules and is <a href=\"https:\/\/mynews4.com\/news\/local\/nevada-secretary-of-state-unveils-new-plan-to-speed-up-election-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">allowing<\/a> registrars to begin tabulating votes at 8 a.m. on election day, instead of waiting until polls close at 7 p.m. This will speed up the reporting timeline at the end of the night and mean that Nevada hopefully will no longer keep the nation waiting while it gets its house in order. Voters expect election results to be reported on election night, just as it always has been. Anything that makes that happen will be a positive change, but that also means that observers need not be at the tabulation centers earlier and all day.<\/p>\n<p>Voters should be encouraged by these developments. However, Nevada\u2019s election officials would do well to increase transparency and accountability for its electoral process. Voters must have confidence that they will be treated fairly and that their vote will count. Elections officials are missing the mark by clawing back some of the gains made in past years \u2014 such as allowing signatures to be viewed on larger screens by the general public. Nevada voters should be able to monitor their elections and understand what they are observing. Without meaningful access, that transparency can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Byron Fisher is the Chief of Staff of the Texas Public Policy Foundation\u2019s Election Protection Project.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nevada boasts some of the most liberal election observation laws in the U.S. Unlike most states where observers need affiliation with a party or candidate, Nevada law, NRS 293.274, mandates that county clerks permit any member of the public to observe elections, enhancing transparency as intended by the state legislature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3263,"featured_media":2284450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Nevada.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[33000,33001,5592,5894,4351],"class_list":["post-2284449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-clark-county","tag-election-transparency","tag-nevada","tag-politics","tag-voting"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Nevada.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2284450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2284449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2284449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}