Washoe County Commission reverses course, acknowledges election certification mandatory
Workers at the Washoe County Registrar of Voters counting early ballots in 2020. The process was live-streamed online. (Screengrab via YouTube)
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Two of the three Washoe County commissioners who refused to certify the results of two primary election recounts reversed course Tuesday, acknowledging that certification is mandatory and that delaying the process could potentially subject them to criminal prosecution.
The Washoe County Commission, in a 4-1 vote, certified the results of the two primary election recounts, which resulted in only minor changes to total vote counts. Commissioners had rejected certification 3-2 on July 9, though they had approved the original canvas of the election 3-2 earlier in June.
Commissioner Clara Andriola — who voted to certify the original results, then voted against certifying the recount, then asked that the board reconsider that vote — said in prepared remarks that the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office had provided “clarifying direction on the nature of our duties to canvas the election returns.” She also acknowledged that the secretary of state and attorney general had quickly petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court to intervene and force certification.
“Essentially, it is my crystal clear understanding that canvassing elections — whether it’s a primary, general, or recount — as defined in statute is a legal duty and affords no discretion to refuse,” Andriola said. “In America, in Nevada, and right here in Washoe County, we can and must do everything we can to restore faith and confidence in our elections.”
Andriola said she had met with the county’s interim registrar of voters about the concerns that compelled her vote against certification and now felt assured they would be properly addressed.
Commissioner Mike Clark, who twice rejected certification of the primary election results, also acknowledged he was required to certify, though he added he was doing it “with a heavy heart” and made it clear he remains uncertain about the validity of election results.
Clark said District Attorney Christopher Hicks sent him a letter after last week’s vote stating the commissioners could be subject to criminal prosecution and forfeiture of office for not certifying the results of the recount.
“As such my vote today is being made under extreme duress under the threat of both my position and prosecution,” Clark added.
Commissioner Jeanne Herman, the third Republican on the commission, again voted against certification, as she has with previous elections.
“There are hills to climb on and there are hills to die on and this might be one of those,” she said. “My constituents come to me with reports of fraud. We’ve had people come here and report over and over and over the hardships (they face) to go to the election and have their vote count. I always felt it was my duty to protect the voters’ rights by not certifying a bad election canvas.”
The day after Clark, Herman and Andriola voted against certifying the recount results, Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and Attorney General Aaron Ford petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court to “confirm the legal obligations of county commissioners and require the entire Washoe Board of County Commissioners to canvass and certify the accurate, recounted election results.”
The ACLU of Nevada filed an amicus brief in support of the secretary of state and attorney general, with Executive Director Athar Haseebullah saying in a statement that a quick resolution is “necessary in advance of November, when election deniers are likely to use this tactic and others to perpetuate absurd conspiracy theories in an effort to undermine our democracy.”
Commission discusses possible 2025 bills
Washoe County commissioners on Tuesday also discussed policy priorities for the 2025 Legislative Session, which will begin in February. Washoe County can directly sponsor two bills and is a member of the Nevada Association of Counties (NACO), which sponsors additional bills.
Clark proposed sponsoring a bill that would allow for automatic recounts of close elections. In existing law, candidates must request — and pay for — recounts regardless of how close the races are. Lily Baran in this year’s primary lost the opportunity to advance in a Reno City Council general election by just 15 votes. The progressive candidate requested a recount but withdrew her request after being inundated with criticism for accepting money from right-wing activist Robert Beadles to pay for the recount.
Clark’s motion to direct county representatives to pursue that as a bill draft request was unanimously supported by the commissioners.
Commissioners learned that NACO is considering sponsoring a bill to clarify in state law that voter signatures are not considered public records that can be requested from county election officials. The thought process, the county’s legislative liaison explained, is that there is no public value to distributing copies of people’s signatures.
The proposal would not change the in-person observation of ballot processing at county election offices and signatures would still be considered public record for that purpose.
Despite that clarification being noted, several public commenters expressed opposition to the proposal and suggested it would make the county’s election process less transparent. Clark suggested it would be ineffective at protecting anyone’s information because signatures can be gathered from other places, such as driver licenses.
Other policy priorities discussed by the commission were not related to elections.
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