Thursday, March 7, 2024 | 2 a.m.
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It wasn’t long ago that election workers in Nevada were regularly threatened with violence and even death. With the rise in election-disinformation and conspiracy theories espoused by Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and the 2018 and 2022 midterms, election workers and their families became the targets of increasingly common intimidation and harassment, making it increasingly difficult for these quiet bulwarks of democracy to do their job.
As a result, by the time of the 2022 midterms, more than half of the top elections officials in Nevada’s 17 counties had resigned. A similar exodus was seen among county election staff, short-term poll workers and even in the secretary of state’s office.
In the aftermath of that campaign of terror, newly elected Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar championed legislation, SB 406, making it a felony to intimidate, coerce or cause any other “undue influence” on any election workers in the state. Individuals who violate the law now face up to four years in prison.
Election workers are the unsung heroes of our democracy — friends, family members and neighbors who toil in relative obscurity to turn the first and most essential gears of democracy. They deserve respect and appreciation for putting in long hours to ensure every citizen has the opportunity to vote and that every vote is counted.
Now, there are hopeful signs that SB 406 is having its intended effect, bringing safety and security to Nevada’s elections and those who administer them.
In recent interviews with the Sun’s Ayden Runnels, Aguilar and Clark County registrar of voters Lorena Portillo confirmed that there have been no threats of political violence against poll workers or polling sites in the Silver State during the current election cycle.
Granted, there were few risks or stakes for Nevada’s MAGA extremists in this year’s primaries. Trump was all but guaranteed Nevada’s Republican delegates in a rigged caucus, Nikki Haley was effectively unopposed in a GOP primary that didn’t award delegates at all and President Joe Biden is an incumbent without a serious challenger. But given the prevalence of threats and intimidation in the past, the absence of violence thus far is worthy of recognition.
Still, Portillo and Aguilar are being vigilant about the possibility of future threats. Both officials are meeting with representatives of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other experts in election security as they seek to strengthen safety and security measures for poll workers and voters alike.
They have also taken intentional steps to increase the number of unsung heroes who work at election sites and ensure the integrity of the election process.
In a recent guest column in the Las Vegas Sun, Aguilar and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford called on the Nevada State Bar Association to allow lawyers who volunteer at the polls to be able to earn continuing education credits.
This novel idea would increase the number of poll workers at Nevada election sites with knowledge of the law. If a voter suspects something unlawful is happening at a polling location, the lawyer could step in, answer pertinent questions and use their knowledge of the law to stop the cycle of speculation, innuendo and misinformation.
Portillo’s office has also promoted Clark County’s “Raise the Vote” partnership, which allows businesses to donate staff time in support of the electoral process while raising funds for local charities.
Other counties have taken similarly creative approaches. In Washoe County, election officials created a high school student election worker program that provides a small financial stipend and course credit while giving students hands-on experience with the voting process and promoting civic engagement — a program that we encourage Clark County officials like Portillo to explore further.
With each of these innovative proposals, Nevada moves a step closer to restoring trust in our elections and a sense of safety and security for our election workers.
However, there is still much to do to protect elections in Nevada and, sadly, our own governor and his party are standing in the way of election integrity.
Last year, Nevada Senate Republicans universally opposed SB 133, which would have criminalized creating, conspiring to create or knowingly serving on a false slate of presidential electors. Democrats passed the bill over the GOP’s objections, but Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed it, claiming he was concerned about the bill’s potentially harsh penalties.
Apparently, protecting his friends and political allies from prosecution is more important to Lombardo than protecting Nevadans from having our voices silenced and our votes cast aside. It’s a shameful stain on the governor’s reputation as a lawman and reveals him to be little more than a partisan pawn and henchman for Trump and Nevada GOP chairman Michael McDonald.
Speaking of McDonald, Trump’s Nevada bagman caught a lucky break this week after a judge pushed back the trial of the six defendants indicted in the fake elector scandal until after this year’s general election due to scheduling conflicts.
The delay, as well as the delays in Trump’s criminal trials, means that efforts to manipulate and subvert elections are likely to continue largely unabated through the end of the 2024 election cycle.
That’s why now is the time for Nevadans of good conscience to step up and help defend democracy by becoming poll workers, who stand as the first line of defense against efforts to undermine the basic right of all Nevadans to cast a ballot.
With the knowledge that Portillo, Aguilar and the Nevada Legislature are taking effective steps to protect poll works from violence, Nevadans must now take effective steps to protect democracy itself.
