Nevada Supreme Court asked to intervene in Washoe County recount certification battle

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Two top Nevada officials are asking the state Supreme Court to intervene in a vote earlier this week by Washoe County commissioners not to certify the results of recounts in two local elections.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and Attorney General Aaron Ford filed a motion with the court Wednesday, seeking confirmation of the commissioners’ legal obligations to count and certify election results.

They also want the court to require the full commission to certify last month’s primary recounts by Aug. 22, the date by which the statewide recount must be completed to ensure that the contents of general election ballots are finalized in accordance with Nevada law.

The certification case has potential implications for how the November election could play out in one of the nation’s most important swing counties.

Aguilar acknowledged in a statement that the situation in Nevada’s second-most populous county could set “a dangerous precedent.”

“It is unacceptable that a public servant can undermine the trust of his constituents,” he said.

All three Republican members of the five-member Washoe City Council voted Tuesday to reject the results of recounts in a race for a commission seat and another for a seat on the local school board. The move immediately raised questions about what would happen next.

The next day, Aguilar and Ford filed a nearly 60-page motion. While not an urgent request, they stressed in the filing that the court should act quickly because “the broader legal and policy implications of Defendants’ decision not to consult the election results are serious.”

It was not immediately clear Thursday when the court would consider the request.

It is also possible that the commission will vote again at its next meeting on July 16, with a certification vote ending the pending Supreme Court petition.

Once considered a mundane, ministerial task, election certification has become a pressure point since the 2020 election. Two years later, during the midterm elections, a scenario similar to the one playing out in Washoe County played out in New Mexico after that state’s primary, when a rural county delayed certifying the results and only relented after the secretary of state appealed to the state Supreme Court.

According to the petition, Nevada law makes it a legal requirement for the county commission to count votes — including the results of the recount — by a certain date. It also states that commissioners have no discretion to refuse or fail to do so.

Two of Washoe County’s Republican commissioners, Jeanne Herman and Mike Clark, have consistently voted against certifying the results and are backed by the broader movement within the county that promotes election conspiracy theories. Republican Clara Andriola, who was targeted by that movement during the primary, joined them in voting against certifying the recounts, including one of the primary she won.

On Tuesday, Andriola cited several “failures” by the electoral department as well as public comments alleging irregularities in voting systems. She said further investigation was needed.

However, the next morning, she emailed commission chair Alexis Hill to ask if it was possible to re-run the vote on whether to certify the results of the two recounts.

Andriola declined to comment on how she would vote.

Hill on Wednesday praised Andriola for asking commissioners to vote again, saying she, too, had made bad votes and asked for a reconsideration. “None of us are perfect,” she said.

Barring an order from the Supreme Court, officials in the county — which includes Reno and the surrounding area — said they did not know what concrete steps they would take to approve the results after Tuesday’s vote.

Any commissioner who is on the winning side of the vote may request a reconsideration, which the commission chair can approve or reject. Under county law, this can only happen at the meeting where the vote was held or at the next commission meeting.

Hill expects a vote at the commission’s next meeting on July 16.

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Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.