{"id":2344985,"date":"2024-09-23T17:31:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T21:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/suit-nevada-clerks-are-failing-to-process-voter-roll-challenges\/"},"modified":"2024-09-23T17:34:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T21:34:24","slug":"suit-nevada-clerks-are-failing-to-process-voter-roll-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/suit-nevada-clerks-are-failing-to-process-voter-roll-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Suit: Nevada Clerks Are Failing To Process Voter Roll Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Fsuit-nevada-clerks-are-failing-to-process-voter-roll-challenges%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=2344985&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>A lawsuit has been filed in Nevada&#8217;s First Judicial District Court by the Citizen Outreach Foundation \u200b(COF) \u2064and its president, Chuck Muth, against the\u200d election clerks of Carson \u2063City and Storey County. The suit \u2064claims that these clerks are failing to fulfill their legal obligations to process challenges\u200d to \u2062the eligibility of \u2064voters on their registration lists. The legal action is a response to a directive issued \u200bby Nevada&#8217;s Secretary of State, Cisco\u200b Aguilar, which instructed clerks\u2063 to ignore specific\u200b voter challenge provisions used by\u2063 the COF.\u200c The COF had previously submitted\u200d affidavits\u200b challenging nearly 4,000 registrants under\u200b state \u200claw, believing some may be noncitizens or\u200d have moved out of state. The plaintiffs argue that the clerks&#8217; refusal to\u200d act on these challenges, influenced by Aguilar&#8217;s memo, is \u200dillegal and harms the public&#8217;s right to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-big-city-election-shenanigans-are-expanding\/\" title=\"Democrats&#039; Big-City Election Shenanigans Are Expanding\">challenge voter eligibility<\/a>. The lawsuit requests the\u200d courts to compel the clerks to perform their statutory duties \u2064as outlined in Nevada law.  <\/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>Several Nevada clerks are failing to undertake their legally required duty to process citizen-led challenges of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-is-a-gop-controlled-florida-committee-working-to-gut-an-election-integrity-bill\/\" title=\"Why Is A GOP-Controlled Florida Committee Working To Gut An Election Integrity Bill?\">potentially ineligible voters<\/a> on the state&rsquo;s registration lists, a lawsuit filed Friday alleges.<\/p>\n<p>Brought in Nevada&rsquo;s First Judicial District Court by the Citizen Outreach Foundation (COF) and its president, Chuck Muth, the <a href=\"https:\/\/pigpenproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Pigpen-Project.Writ-of-Mandamus-Carson-City.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">legal challenge<\/a> contends that the election clerks of Carson City and Storey County are neglecting to fulfill their statutory obligation to process challenges to allegedly unlawful registrants on the counties&rsquo; respective voter rolls. Carson City Clerk Scott Hoen and Storey County Clerk Jim Hindle are named defendants in the case.<\/p>\n<p>As noted in the lawsuit, the legal saga stems from an Aug. 27 directive issued by Democrat Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar. The memo <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/12\/nevada-activists-blast-elections-chief-for-trying-to-discourage-and-impede-legitimate-voter-roll-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">instructed<\/a> local clerks to refrain from complying with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nevadans-blast-elections-chief-for-impeding-voter-roll-challenges\/\" title=\"Nevadans Blast Elections Chief For Impeding Voter Roll Challenges\">voter registrant challenges made<\/a> under a specific provision of state law used by Muth and the COF.<\/p>\n<p>As I previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/12\/nevada-activists-blast-elections-chief-for-trying-to-discourage-and-impede-legitimate-voter-roll-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> in these pages, the COF filed affidavits challenging the eligibility of nearly 4,000 registrants on July 29 under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leg.state.nv.us\/nrs\/nrs-293.html#NRS293Sec535\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Section 535<\/a>, which permits &ldquo;any elector or other reliable person&rdquo; to file challenges against registrants they have reason to believe are noncitizens or have moved to a different county or state with the intention of relocating there or &ldquo;remaining there for an indefinite time.&rdquo; The statute requires challengers to affirm &ldquo;he or she has personal knowledge of the facts set forth in the affidavit.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>COF made its Section 535 challenges after its affidavits submitted under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leg.state.nv.us\/nrs\/nrs-293.html#NRS293Sec547\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Section 547<\/a> were rejected. That section has seemingly stricter requirements for making challenges, such as the requirement that affidavits must be &ldquo;based on the personal knowledge of the registered voter.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite acknowledging &ldquo;&lsquo;personal knowledge&rsquo; is not explicitly defined under [Section 535] or implementing regulations,&rdquo; Deputy Secretary of Elections Mark Wlaschin declared in the Aug. 27 memo to clerks that Aguilar &ldquo;views the term to mean the same thing in both statutes&rdquo; and instructed local officials to &ldquo;reject&rdquo; challenges that did not comply with his office&rsquo;s interpretation of the law. <\/p>\n<p>In their Friday lawsuit, plaintiffs allege that Hoen and Hindle &ldquo;have refused to act&rdquo; upon their statutory duties to process their Section 535 challenges as required by state law. They also contend that neither Carson City nor Storey County responded to their Sept. 10 correspondence &ldquo;to each district attorney regarding the failure to process challenges because of the memorandum issued by Cisco Aguilar.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Petitioners and the Public will continue to be injured by Respondents Hoen and Hindle&rsquo;s failure to act unless and until they are required to fulfill their duties under Nevada law,&rdquo; the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[RELATED:[RELATED:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/12\/nevada-activists-blast-elections-chief-for-trying-to-discourage-and-impede-legitimate-voter-roll-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nevada Activists Blast Elections Chief For Trying To &lsquo;Discourage And Impede&rsquo; Legitimate Voter Roll Challenges<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Muth separately <a href=\"https:\/\/pigpenproject.com\/blog\/pigpen-project-files-lawsuit-over-voter-challenge-rejections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted<\/a> in a Friday article that he views Aguilar &mdash; not the county clerks and registrars &ldquo;who processed [the COF&rsquo;s] original challenges&rdquo; &mdash; as the &ldquo;bad guy.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[W]hile we asked that [Aguilar] rescind his directive and allow the clerks\/registrars to comply with Nevada&rsquo;s law and process the challenges, he&rsquo;s refused to even respond. Which leaves us with no choice but to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/daily-wire-texas-ag-ask-court-to-block-state-departments-domestic-misinformation-efforts\/\" title=\"Daily Wire and Texas AG seek court intervention to halt State Department&#039;s domestic &#039;misinformation&#039; campaign\">seek court intervention<\/a>,&rdquo; Muth wrote. &ldquo;Unfortunately and reluctantly, that means we have to sue the county clerks\/registrars &mdash; even the ones who initially did their jobs exactly as they were supposed to.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The COF president told The Federalist in a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/06\/how-nevadas-practice-of-mailing-a-ballot-to-each-registered-voter-makes-voter-roll-mess-worse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previous interview<\/a> that many local officials have been &ldquo;extremely cooperative and helpful&rdquo; in his group&rsquo;s efforts to get ineligible registrants removed from the Silver State&rsquo;s voter rolls. <\/p>\n<p>Plaintiffs have requested Nevada&rsquo;s First Judicial District Court to issue a writ of mandamus &ldquo;compelling Respondents to process the challenges and provide notice to the registrant&rdquo; as specified by state law. They also asked the court to declare defendants to be in violation of Nevada law and issue an injunction requiring them to follow it.<\/p>\n<p>Related lawsuits will be filed against other Nevada county clerks this week, <a href=\"https:\/\/pigpenproject.com\/blog\/pigpen-project-files-lawsuit-over-voter-challenge-rejections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to Muth. <\/p>\n<p>Neither Hoen nor Hindle responded to The Federalist&rsquo;s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1\">state content writer<\/a> for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several clerks in Nevada are allegedly neglecting their legal responsibilities to address citizen-led challenges regarding potentially ineligible voters on the state&#8217;s registration lists, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday. The Citizen Outreach Foundation (COF) and its president, Chuck Muth, initiated the legal action in Nevada\u2019s First Judicial District Court, claiming that the election clerks of Carson City and Storey County are failing to process challenges against individuals they believe may be unlawfully registered. The lawsuit names Carson City Clerk Scott Hoen and Storey County Clerk Jim Hindle as defendants.<\/p>\n<p>The issue arose from a directive issued by Democrat Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar on August 27, which instructed local clerks not to comply with voter registrant challenges made under a specific state law provision utilized by Muth and COF. Previously, COF had submitted affidavits challenging nearly 4,000 registrants&#8217; eligibility under Section 535 of state law. This section allows \u201cany elector or other reliable person\u201d to challenge registrants they suspect may be noncitizens or have moved elsewhere with no intention of returning. Challengers must affirm that they possess personal knowledge about the facts stated in their affidavits.<\/p>\n<p>After their initial challenges under Section 547 were rejected\u2014this section has stricter requirements for challengers\u2014COF proceeded with Section 535 challenges instead. Despite acknowledging that \u201cpersonal knowledge\u201d is not clearly defined in Section 535 or its regulations, Deputy Secretary of Elections Mark Wlaschin indicated in his memo that Aguilar interprets it similarly across both statutes and directed local officials to dismiss any non-compliant challenges.<\/p>\n<p>In their lawsuit filed on Friday, plaintiffs argue that Hoen and Hindle have &#8220;refused to act&#8221; according to their statutory duties regarding processing these Section 535 challenges as mandated by state law. They also claim there was no response from either Carson City or Storey County concerning their September 10 correspondence addressing this failure due to Aguilar&#8217;s memorandum.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit states: \u201cPetitioners and the Public will continue to be injured by Respondents Hoen and Hindle\u2019s failure to act unless required to fulfill their duties under Nevada law.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Muth expressed his view that Aguilar\u2014not the county clerks who initially processed COF&#8217;s original challenges\u2014is primarily responsible for this situation. He noted efforts made towards getting Aguilar&#8217;s directive rescinded but mentioned receiving no response from him; thus prompting court intervention as necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Plaintiffs are requesting Nevada\u2019s First Judicial District Court issue a writ of mandamus compelling the respondents to process these voter registration challenges properly while also seeking a declaration stating defendants violated state law along with an injunction requiring compliance.<\/p>\n<p>Additional lawsuits against other county clerks in Nevada are expected later this week according to Muth&#8217;s statements. Neither Hoen nor Hindle provided comments when approached for feedback<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2344986,"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\/09\/Nevada-sign-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[23356,32644,32714,5592,32643],"class_list":["post-2344985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-clerks","tag-election-integrity","tag-legal-challenges","tag-nevada","tag-voter-rolls"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Nevada-sign-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344985","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2344985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2344985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2344985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2344985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}