Nevada Judge Rejects Republican Lawsuit Seeking To Stop Mail-In Ballot Count
A Nevada judge has denied a lawsuit by President Donald Trump's campaign and state Republican officials trying to suspend Clark County's mail-in ballot counting. Located in Nevada, the county had an estimated population of 2,266,715 last year, with most of the population residing in Las Vegas.
By far, Clark County is Nevada's most populous, with nearly 70 percent of the state's voters living in the county, which is heavily leaned towards Democrats, CNN reported. Nevada GOP and the Trump campaign alleged that they were unable to monitor each process of the ballot-counting closely enough and suggested to install cameras to capture the ballot-counting process.
Carson City District Court Judge James Wilson turned down their request, noting that the plaintiffs did not have enough legal standing to bring the case, claiming they were unable to provide evidence of either debasement or dilution of a voter's vote. This ruling was released just one day before Election Day.
Wilson pointed out that there was no evidence hinting at vote counting inaccuracy, adding that there is no proof that any vote that should lawfully be counted has or will be excluded. Moreover, he said there is no evidence that any election worker did anything unlawful or went against a policy or procedure.
In the lawsuit, the Trump campaign requested the court to make it compulsory for Clark County Registrar of Voters Joseph Gloria to stop using an electronic ballot-sorting system called Agilis. Much to the chagrin of the plaintiffs, there were no errors or flaws in the results generated by the Agilis, not giving the judge a reason for such a mandate, Wilson explained.
Wilson also pointed to state legislation that was passed in Aug., authorizing county officials to count and process ballots using electronic devices. This GOP lawsuit was filed on Oct. 23, eleven days ahead of the general election. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford lauded Wilson's ruling.
In his statement, Ford noted that Trump's deliberate attempt to raise questions about Nevada's elections had failed yet again. He went on to say that the ruling confirms that the procedure to observe an election in Nevada isn't flawed, noting that even the president needs to follow the same procedure.
He called this ruling a victory for all Nevadans' constitutional rights. Taking to his Twitter account, Clark noted that there is only one result, and that is generated after every lawful vote is counted. State GOP chair Michael McDonald said the party could file an expedited appeal to the state's Supreme Court, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal.