Washoe Commission shelves Big Lie-fueled election proposal

Washoe County Commissioners won’t hear a controversial resolution that called for using the National Guard at polling sites and ballots to be hand counted at its Tuesday meeting, but the proposal could reappear at a later date. 

In a statement Monday, Washoe County Commission Chair Vaughn Hartung and Vice Chair Alexis Hill said the item was being removed from the upcoming meeting because it violated Nevada’s Open Meeting Law. 

Washoe County District Attorney Christopher Hicks wrote that the resolution “was submitted the day before the agenda deadline by a commissioner and did not go through the customary agenda review process.” 

“As a result, the agenda item description does not match the resolution that has been submitted for possible approval and does not adequately describe the possible action to be taken,” he said in a statement. “Therefore, the agenda item is removed from tomorrow’s agenda and may be resubmitted at a later date.”

The proposal was introduced by Republican Washoe County Commissioner Jeanne Herman, and would have required only Washoe County residents to be poll workers, authorized the use “stealth paper ballots,” called on the National Guard to be present at polling locations, required “fair opportunities for observation” and asked for ballots to be hand counted.

Herman told the Reno Gazette Journal that while she didn’t have concerns about previous elections she was responding to concerns brought up during a Feb. 8 commission meeting. 

During hours of public comment members of the Washoe County Republican Party were among numerous people saying, without evidence, they had concerns about “election integrity” and widespread voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election. 

Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, did a review of the 2020 election and found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Those still arguing for stricter voting and election requirements haven’t produced evidence to support claims of broad voting irregularities.

The proposed resolution received substantial pushback from groups including the ACLU of Nevada, Silver State Voices, and All Voting is Local who said the measure was unconstitutional. 

“This resolution will only negatively impact access to the ballot, and we urge the county commission to reject these measures and uphold the freedom to vote for all Nevadans,” Kerry Durmick, the Nevada State Director for All Voting is Local, said in a statement last week.

In an interview, Durmick warned Washoe’s proposal won’t be the only restriction seen at a local level ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.