Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske attends Table Top the Vote 2018, a national election cyber exercise that is being hosted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Monday, Aug. 13, 2018.
Thursday, April 15, 2021 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
In voting to censure Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske in retaliation for former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election, the state Republican Party aimed at destroying Cegavske’s reputation and credibility.
Instead, the party punched itself squarely in the face. With the censure of Cegavske, who served Nevadans well in helping carry out a fair and accurate election last year amid the pandemic, the party once again revealed itself as a group of extremists bent on subverting American democracy and suppressing the vote.
Cegavske responded to the outrageous censure vote — a formalized rebuke that has no consequences in terms of her ability to finish her current term or seek office again, but is designed to discourage GOP voters from supporting her should she run for office again — with a spot-on statement. She said the state GOP punished her “simply because they are disappointed with the outcome of the 2020 election.”
“My job is to carry out the duties of my office as enacted by the Nevada Legislature, not carry water for the state GOP or put my thumb on the scale of democracy,” the statement reads.
Correct. And that’s what she and other election officials, including Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria and his staff, did last November. They carried out a free and fair election in which Trump was solidly defeated but — and this is important, as it demonstrates the honesty of the election — Republicans made gains in the state Legislature and the state’s only GOP congressional delegate, Rep. Mark Amodei, breezed to another term.
Let’s say this for the umpteenth time: There was no widespread voter fraud in Nevada or anywhere else, contrary to the Republican Party’s big lie. The claim that Cegavske failed in her duty to investigate the GOP’s bogus allegations of voter fraud is just another part of that fiction. She refused to be party to the lie and refused to mount a phony investigation in pursuit of phony charges. That’s what an honorable public servant does. Those who voted to censure her were, quite specifically, demanding that she rig the election in their favor and cheat the voters.
The GOP had plenty of opportunities to prove its claims of fraud with lawsuits here and across the nation, but were laughed out of court at every turn by judges across the political spectrum. Why? Because the GOP had zero evidence of massive fraud.
The censure vote against Cegavske should stand as a bright red flag to potential GOP candidates for several reasons, starting with it being another example of the party’s nationwide assault on voting access and fair elections. Clearly, it’s an attempt to intimidate Cegavske into abandoning her duties and abetting the party in its bid to subvert elections and establish minority rule. Cegavske, who was last elected in 2018, will oversee the 2022 election, assuming she doesn’t leave office between now and then.
It’s to her credit that she spoke out against her party’s corrupt leadership.
No wonder honorable rank-and-file Republicans are leaving the party in droves, disgusted with the leadership’s actions.
As Cegavske noted, her duty as a statewide elected official is to the entire body of Nevada voters, not to any party. Nevadans are relying on her to maintain that independence when they go to the polls again next year.
Speaking of which, the censure vote serves as a note from the GOP to anyone who might run as a Republican in upcoming elections: reasonable and responsible candidates need not apply. In the mob mentality that is today’s GOP, members who fail the party’s extremist loyalty test are ruthlessly attacked. No one is safe: Even Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who championed the GOP’s new voter suppression laws in that state, recently was censured by county-level Republicans along with Georgia Secretary of State John Raffensperger.
This is McCarthyism all over again.
In Cegavske’s case, the state GOP went after a loyal member and popular leader who served in the state Assembly from 1996 to 2002 and the state Senate from 2002 to 2014. In 2018, she was the only Republican to win statewide office.
Yet when she refused to be crooked, this is how her party treated her. With friends like these …
To her credit, Cegavske has vowed to stay the course and continue doing her duty.
“Unfortunately, members of my own party continue to believe the 2020 general election was wrought with fraud — and that somehow I had a part in it — despite a complete lack of evidence to support that belief,” her statement read. “Regardless of the censure vote today by the Nevada Republican Party Central Committee, I will continue in my efforts to oversee secure elections in Nevada and to restore confidence in our elections, confidence which has been destroyed by those falsely claiming the 2020 general election produced widespread fraud.”
To that, we say keep up the good work, Ms. Cegavske.
