Republicans’ lawsuit slams failure to update voter registration rolls in Nevada

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Republicans have sued Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and five county clerks including Clark County’s Lorena Portillo, alleging “impossibly high” voter registration numbers because lists have not been properly maintained.

The lawsuit by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the Nevada Republican Party and Scott Johnston — a precinct captain and registered Republican voter — was filed Friday in U.S. District Court. It alleges the plaintiffs have failed to live up to requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

“At least three Nevada counties have more registered voters than they have adult citizens who are over the age of 18. That number is impossibly high,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also cites two examples of county voter registration totals that are higher than 90% of adult citizens over the age of 18, and high rates of inactive voters on the rolls.

“Election integrity starts with clean voter rolls, and that’s why the National Voter Registration Act requires state officials to keep their rolls accurate and up-to-date,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement released Monday. “Nevada has universal mail voting and no voter ID requirement, which makes Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar’s failure to comply with the NVRA and provide accurate voter rolls all the more concerning. Securing clean voter rolls in Nevada is a critical step towards ensuring that it will be easy to vote and hard to cheat.”

Federal and state law make Nevada’s Secretary of State primarily responsible for list maintenance, the lawsuit said.

A similar lawsuit was filed last week in Michigan. A report from The Hill noted that the lawsuit came “just days after allies of former President Trump took leadership positions and hours after the party confirmed that Trump was the GOP nominee for the 2024 election.”

County clerks are responsible for maintaining the voting rolls. In addition to Portillo, the lawsuit names William “Scott” Hoen (Carson City clerk), Amy Burgans (Douglas County clerk), Staki Lindberg (Lyon County clerk) and Jim Hindle (Storey County clerk).

Claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election included unproven allegations that more than 1,506 dead people voted and 40,000 people voted twice. Those claims described votes — not voters listed on registration rolls.

The new lawsuit takes issue only with counties’ failure to purge names when people die or other circumstances. But it repeats familiar themes, citing two cases.

“Voter fraud is very real in Nevada. Several recent elections have suffered from voter fraud. The cases of Donald Kirk Hartle, 55, of Las Vegas in November 2021 and Craig Frank, 53, of Las Vegas in February 2021. Hartle voted twice in the 2020 election. Frank voted twice in the 2016 election.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford described the Hartle case after a guilty plea was entered.

“Though rare, voter fraud can undercut trust in our election system,” Ford said. “This particular case of voter fraud was particularly egregious because the offender continually spread inaccurate information about our elections despite being the source of fraud himself. I am glad to see Mr. Hartle being held accountable for his actions, and I want to stress that our office will pursue any credible allegations of voter fraud.”

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction barring further violations of NVRA, a court order to reasonably and effectively maintain voter registration lists and compensation for attorneys’ fees.

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