Poll observer Donna Shively watches people vote at a polling site on midterm Election Day at the Boulevard Mall Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Scores of people lined up Tuesday inside Boulevard Mall, the central Las Vegas shopping hub, to cast their ballot on Election Day. And just a few feet away, unbeknownst to most, five others kept a watchful eye on voters.
The five were instructed to stay within a 10-by-10-foot square marked by by yellow tape, about 20 yards from the voter check-in desk in front of the voting machines. A few jotted notes on pads they brought with them and others stood with their arms crossed throughout the day as hundreds of voters showed up at the mall to cast their ballot.
Those who watched the vote transpire were partisan poll observers.
Nevada voting laws allow for such observers, who can monitor how an election is administered on behalf of a political party or advocacy group.
The concept is for these individuals to report about any perceived missteps in the election process. And if both parties are watching, voter integrity would be strengthened.
But, that always isn’t the case. Republican poll watchers, according to reports, have intimidated voters, especially in urban cores that often are filled with Democratic supporters.
Voting-rights advocates have warned that some observers these days, particularly conservative admirers of former President Donald Trump, could amount to voter intimidation simply by being in place.
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit raising concerns about poll observers in suburban Phoenix bringing guns as they stood near ballot drop boxes, and other groups in Arizona taking photos and videos of election workers.
In Nevada, Washoe County officials found people wearing night-vision goggles outside the county registrar’s building and attempted to document election workers counting votes during the state’s June primary, according to Reuters.
But such efforts had no bearing on Joshua Lozano and his wife, Angelyn Dimacali, who cast their ballots Tuesday at Boulevard Mall.
“It’s fair game for everyone,” Dimacali, 30, said. “There’s so much suspicion about conspiracies nowadays. So it’s more just like if they want to participate or act like security with what’s going to happen in actual places … we’re in a public place, so it doesn’t necessarily bother me.
Her husband agreed and said brazen attempts to scare voters — like what happened in Arizona — were desperate attempts by people to put their thumbs on the scale. As of early evening Tuesday, there had been no reports of intimidation in the Las Vegas area, a key cog in battleground Nevada where the ruling majority of the U.S. Senate could be decided in the race between Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.
“If you’re (trying to intimidate voters), it seems like you’re a little insecure about what’s going on,” said Lozano, 32. “It’s like you’re not really a big, bad, tough guy. Just let the people do what they want.”
Others, like Gigi Michael, 65, wished observers had more autonomy when watching the polls. Michael also voted at the Boulevard Mall and said she voted in person because she distrusts mail-in voting.
“You have a lot of stuff with what happened in 2020, and I think there’s a lot of evidence of cheating,” Michael said. Claims that the last presidential election was “stolen” through widespread fraud, however, have been repeatedly debunked, including by Nevada’s top elections official, who is a Republican.
“Why are they so far away? They don’t know what the hell is going on,” Michael added.
Last month, Republican candidates and operatives convened at the Ahern Hotel in Las Vegas to train partisan poll observers, a push that, according to organizers, would allow them to “take a stand and leave a legacy,” ahead of one of the most closely-watched midterm elections in recent memory.
The poll watching training appeared to be for those who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election and continued to perpetuate misinformation to possibly subvert this year’s results. The training session featured GOP Secretary of State nominee Jim Marchant and conservative commentator Wayne Allyn Root, both of whom subscribe to former Trump’s unsubstantiated contention that the 2020 presidential election was rigged with widespread voter fraud that affected its outcome.
It’s a different narrative with Democrats.
Training to become a poll observer is pretty straightforward, said Lewis Hardy, chairman of the Carson City Democratic Party. In his case, the Democratic National Committee provided an online class on what’s allowed and what isn’t, and what to do if any alleged wrongdoing is observed.
“I think it’s important, I don’t think there’s any question about that,” said Hardy, adding that his party had four observers out at the capital city’s two voting locations on Tuesday. “In general in this area, we don’t have too many problems because our clerk and recorder makes sure everything is fair and done well, and our law enforcement does things very well.”
Poll watchers can play a key role in tracking voter turnout, but by law they are prohibited from interfering with the electoral process, officials said. Observers, however, can report issues to election authorities and party officials, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan group of sitting state-level lawmakers.
Anyone is allowed to act as a poll observer without needing outside credentials, per state law, though observers can be told to leave for concerns over public safety, protecting voter privacy or to maintain order. Poll watchers are also prohibited from speaking to voters at a voting site, using a cellphone or computer at a precinct’s premises, and they cannot advocate for or against a candidate, political party or ballot question.
Gordon Brown, secretary of the Clark County Democratic Party, said in an email local Democrats worked with “community partners” to put progressive poll watchers at precincts across the Las Vegas valley. He also noted that the Nevada Democratic Party is operating a hotline to address any allegations of voter intimidation.
“The Clark County Democratic Party is in contact with community partners who are working to ensure Nevadans are able to cast their votes without issue,” Brown said. He did not clarify how many poll watchers the Clark County Democrats recruited, or at what precincts they were on hand.
The Nevada Republican Party, meanwhile, noted on its website that poll watchers were at every polling place in Clark and Washoe counties “to make sure that Nevada election laws are followed,” according to its website.
The state GOP also set up hotlines in Northern and Southern Nevada, as well as an email address, to report any suspicious activity. The party also has an online submission form in which people can report suspected “election integrity concerns.”
The Sun attempted to reach the Nevada GOP multiple times to discuss poll watchers and election integrity but was not successful.
All the poll observers contacted by the Sun were told they were instructed to not speak with the media.
