Councilwoman Michelle Fiore attends a City of Las Vegas council meeting at City Hall, downtown, Wednesday, July 8, 2020.
Published Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 | 5:24 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 | 9:39 a.m.
The organizer of a recall effort against Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore isn’t turning over some of the collected signatures to the secretary of state’s office.
Expel Michele gathered signatures from Ward 6 voters for 90 days, but fell short of the 1,911 signatures required to trigger a recall election. The campaign was launched in June amid allegations that Fiore made racially charged comments during the Clark County GOP Convention.
Instead of submitting all of the signatures, organizer Molly Taylor says she will keep some confidential to protect the residents who signed the petition after Fiore said in a radio interview that she’d “go look them up on social media.”
Taylor filed a complaint against Fiore with the secretary of state for threatening the signers, but officials found no evidence of a violation.
State law dictates that anyone who fails to submit the signatures on a recall petition could be found guilty of a misdemeanor. That’s a risk Taylor says she’s willing to take in the name of safety. She submitted an initial round of signatures before Fiore made her comments.
“It is a misdemeanor charge for not turning them in and I am willing to take that charge to protect the identity and well-being of those folks I personally spoke with,” Taylor said.
Signatures become public record once they are filed. The subject of the recall would then have the right to reach out to the individuals who signed the petition and try to convince them to remove their signature.
Taylor said she was questioned by the Nevada Department of Public Safety’s Investigation Division about why she didn’t submit the signatures. It’s unknown if charges will be filed.
Fiore, following her comments earlier this summer, stepped down as mayor pro tem. She wasn’t available to immediately comment.
