John Locher / AP
In this June 9, 2020 file photo election workers process mail-in ballots during a nearly all-mail primary election in Las Vegas.
Published Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 | 11:44 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 | 10:35 p.m.
A Nevada state judge said Wednesday he’ll decide “soon” whether county election officials can continue to process mail-in ballots and use a computer to verify voter signatures in the Las Vegas area.
With nearly 270,000 mailed ballots already received in the state’s most populous and Democratic-leaning county, Judge James Wilson Jr. heard Jesse Binnall, an attorney for the Donald Trump reelection campaign and state Republicans, cite testimony from count-watchers that ballots were processed “in the dead of night, outside the view of observers, with no accountability.”
“Not acting to ensure there is transparency threatens the legitimacy of this election,” Binnall argued.
“Would you please tell me specifically what it is you want me to order?” the judge asked.
“If there is data that needs to be challenged, they need to be able to see that data,” Binnall responded. “All we’re asking for is some meaningful way to observe ... the signature-matching process.”
Democrats and a deputy state attorney general told the judge that the GOP and Trump campaign were using various complaints and requests to “micromanage election officials down to the specific settings used on ballot-sorting machinery" to disrupt ballot counting “mid-stream” in a presidential battleground state.
“The reality is there is really no way to challenge mail-in ballots that have already been cast without violating privacy and ballot secrecy,” said Gregory Zunino, deputy state solicitor.
Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria testified that with hundreds of thousands of ballots still expected to arrive, not using a signature scanner would require a massive mid-process overhaul and more staff. That would endanger his ability to finish counting ballots in time for county officials to report the results as required Nov. 16, he said.
The argument about access and oversight is one of several to emerge in states including Michigan, New Mexico and Pennsylvania after Trump cast doubt on voting issues ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
All sides expect a fast-track ruling from Wilson, in Carson City, and an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Gloria said privacy and coronavirus pandemic distancing requirements prevent over-the-shoulder monitoring of signature validation.
But he insisted that officials have gone “above and beyond” requirements in state law to accommodate observers from both major parties and non-partisans.
More than 1.27 million ballots went out in Clark County, where Democrats make up almost 41% of registered active voters and Republicans account for 28.3%.
More than 294,000 ballots had been cast by mail as of Wednesday, according to state election data, and more than 98% of those were accepted as valid. Counting continued Thursday.
