Exclusive: RNC Challenges SOS Aguilar Over Proposed Election Regulations
The RNC alleges the Office of the Secretary of State of ‘underhanded attacks’ that will make voting less secure and less transparent
By Megan Barth, September 28, 2023 1:17 pm
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has submitted a public comment to Nevada’s Legislative Commission accusing Nevada Democrats for “attempting to undermine election integrity.” The RNC alleges Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar is pushing changes to election guidelines that would make voting less secure and less transparent in the Silver State. (see PDF below)
In their challenge, the RNC alleges that Secretary of State Aguilar is tampering with election integrity safeguards in three separate regulations that have been proposed to the Legislative Counsel Bureau. The RNC notes, “The Office of the Secretary of State approved the proposed regulations with limited debate or explanation as to their necessity. Today, the Legislative Commission has the opportunity to reject these drastic and counterproductive proposals.”
The RNC maintains that the adopted regulations destroy chain of custody requirements for transporting ballots from polling locations to tabulation centers, eliminates identification numbers for mail in ballots, and creates significant obstacles for bipartisan poll-watching at tabulation centers.
Senior Counsel of the RNC Stephen Kenny notes in the challenge:
Nevada stands at a critical juncture. With public concerns over election integrity and administration at an all-time high, the state can either work towards transparency and civic engagement or it can breed distrust by eliminating access and commonsense safeguards. Too many of the proposed election regulations to be considered by the Legislative Commission today would result in the latter outcome, which is why the RNC urges the rejection of any such proposed regulation, and specifically the rejection of LCB File Nos. R011-23, R012-23, and R014-23.
The RNC has a history of challenging election policies implemented by county registrars. In October 2022, the RNC sued Clark County for failing to share key information about its partisan breakdown of poll workers. The RNC was victorious and secured rolling updates from the county on its efforts to ensure bipartisan representation among Clark County poll workers.
During this last legislative session, Governor Lombardo and state Republican lawmakers issued a series of election integrity proposals that were ignored by the Democratic legislative majority despite polling that shows a majority of Americans support election integrity measures.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told The Globe:
“Nevada’s Democrat Secretary of State is trying to weaken ballot chain-of-custody requirements and make it harder for bipartisan poll watchers to monitor the ballot box. Nevadans deserve better than these underhanded attacks on basic election integrity, which could drive down voter confidence in the Silver State. The RNC has a strong record of fighting for election integrity in Nevada courts and will continue protecting the vote for Nevadans.”
RNC Letter to NV Legislative Commission 9.28.23
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Until the Nevada SOS’s Office develops a procedure to void a fraudulent ballot cast by mail when a legal voter goes to the poll with ID and is told they already have voted, then we will continue to have thousands of disenfranchised voters as I know we did in 2020. All that the SOS’s Office and the Majority Democrat Legislature have done is make Nevada Elections less secure, establish a totalitarian system contrary to the will of the people, and encourage an image of insecure, third world fraudulent elections. Nevada ranks 50th (Hawaii was 51) in voter integrity! Do we have to be last in everything?