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In a 3-2 Vote, Washoe County Commission Rejects Certification of Primary Election Recounts

Commissioner Andriola: ‘I am not going to certify the vote, I believe that it warrants further investigation’

From Left, Washoe County Board of Commissioners: Alexis Hill, Mike Clark, Mariluz Garcia, Clara Andriola, Jeanne Herman (Photo: Washoe County)

This post has been updated with breaking news.

In a politically divided 3-2 vote, the Republican members of the Washoe County Board of Commissioners voted to not certify the two primary recounts conducted by the Washoe County Registrar’s office. The two races were challenged by Washoe County Commissioner District 4 candidate Mark Lawson and Washoe County School Board Trustee District 5 candidate Paul White. The recounts were funded by businessman Robert Beadles through his Franklin Project PAC.

During the challenge, the candidates demanded a hand recount of the primary ballots and filed temporary restraining orders against numerous individuals and state entities, including the City of Reno, Washoe County, and the Washoe County Registrars office (ROV). Ultimately, the recount in each race was not conducted by hand and the ROV’s findings did not change the outcome of the June primary for Lawson and White. Per Nevada statute, “All ballots must be recounted in the same manner in which the ballots were originally tabulated.”

Washoe County Commissioner Clara Andriola. (Photo: Ariel Van Cleve for The Nevada Globe)

Commissioner Clara Andriola, who was challenged in the primary by Lawson, voted against the certification noting that the county has had some “mishaps.” Andriola stated, “Given the fact that it’s not the first time that we’ve heard a lot of concerns of procedures, a lot of concerns of alleged mishaps, I think have been a term that’s been used a lot or hiccups … I am not going to certify the vote. I believe that it warrants further investigation.”

Referencing recent election violation reports filed within the county, Andriola added, “I’m not an election denier. It’s really to look at the investigative part of the allegations, that in this case, what has formally been filed and I don’t know how many others have formally been filed.”

Her republican colleagues on the board, Jeanne Herman and Mike Clark, also voted against the certification. The certification is now in the hands of the Nevada Secretary of State.

In response to their unified vote, Beadles proclaimed victory, stating on social media, “We won a battle.”

Beadles is now demanding a new primary election after a “study found that Democrat and Non-Partisan mail-in ballots were counted much faster than Republican mail-in ballots, acting almost as one combined group….processing times of Democrat and Non-Partisan mail-in ballots were almost identical, which is highly unusual.”

Beadles contends that the statistical probability of the processing times is an anomaly, warrants an investigation, and necessitates a new primary election.

The three republican commissioners have outwardly supported voter ID and related election integrity legislation proposed by Governor Joe Lombardo and republican lawmakers. Although numerous bills were introduced during the last legislative session, the Democratic majority refused to provide hearings as the bills were deemed “dead on arrival” by Speaker of the Assembly Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas).

Last month, Repair the Vote PAC announced that they submitted 179,000 signatures in support of a voter ID ballot initiative, surpassing the required 102,362 threshold. The signatures now await verification by the Secretary of State. If verified, the initiative will appear on the ballot in November’s general election.

Update: Commissioner Clara Andriola has requested that the count results be reconsidered and a vote will be taken at next Tuesday’s board meeting. 

 

 

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Megan Barth: Megan Barth is the founding editor of The Nevada Globe. She has written for The Hill, The Washington Times, The Daily Wire, American Thinker, Canada Free Press and The Daily Caller and has appeared frequently on, among others, Headline News CNN, NewsMax TV and One America News Network. When she isn't editing, writing, or talking, you can find her hiking and relaxing in The Sierras.

View Comments (1)

  • What this article does not tell you is that there were at least 100 Washoe county residents who attended this meeting and demanded either a hand recount or a new election. One commenter had a video of a man inside the election processing center moving from computer to computer plugging in a USB thumb drive. USB drives are an easy way to bypass security and to install virus software. That by itself should warrant a refusal to certify the election and a new election., The current Supreme Court justices are entirely corrupt and in my opinion are illegitimate. They have proven to be so by refusing to look at evidence of election fraud in the 2022 election brought forward by Mr. Beadles. In doing so they are the ones who violated all judicial precedent and protocol. The NO vote on certification does not jeopardize our elections. The actions of our public officials is what does so.

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