There is a growing national concern about the risk of election denial that prompts local officials to refuse to certify valid election results afterward strange situation opened in Nevada, where the county board commissioner refused a certificate for his own victory.
Washoe County Board Commissioner Clara Andriola won in June by nearly 19 points over her primary challenger, Mark Lawson. Lawson called for a recount, which showed the early tally in the race was correct.
However, at a commission meeting Tuesday, Andriola sided with two other Republican commissioners who agreed not to certify the results of their own election.
He said there was “much information presented that warrants further investigation,” and that he had to choose his “conscience” and wanted to restore public confidence after hearing numerous public testimonies about the election — some of which were forthcoming. from a well-known election conspiracy theorist in the Washoe community.
However, in a statement to CBS News, Andriola said he was asked to review the vote on the certification at the July 16 Board of Commissioners meeting, before the vote became final under commission rules. He did not comment on the motivation for his initial refusal to certify his own election results.
Washoe County is an important battleground county in Nevada, which polls believe could emerge as a battleground state 2024 presidential contest. It has also become a hotbed of election denialism – a movement bankrolled by a charismatic local Trump supporter.
This week’s vote is the latest sign that local officials may be persuaded by election deniers to delay or withhold certification of election results, even if election officials find the election free of fraud or irregularities.
“The refusal to canvass the results of the election accurately, required by law, has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for elections in Nevada,” said Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar in a statement on X. confidence in our democracy.”
Nevada Secretary of State’s Office and state Attorney General Aaron Ford filed a petition with the Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday asking the court to confirm the commissioner’s legal obligation to certify election results, a spokesman for the secretary of state said.
Voting certification is an administrative process in which local officials have a legal obligation to confirm the results of an election. There are few instances in which officials are obligated not to certify — usually, only when there is a successful court challenge to the vote, which was not the case in the Washoe contest. Certification does not mean that the process is error-free, and in some countries, it is required before a lawsuit can be filed to challenge the results.
But episodes like this one — which saw local officials obstructing the routine administrative task of certifying the results — are emerging as a strategy among election detractors in key presidential states across the country. Election experts worry that any attempt to block voting certification at the local level could portend trouble for the November presidential election, where there is a strict deadline for states to issue certification.
“Efforts to delay or undermine certification could lead to chaos and political violence,” said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.
“These attempts to destroy democracy are what the opponents of democracy want. And it seems that those who oppose American democracy are ready to use this tactic in November, if their favorite candidate loses,” added Becker.
Washoe officials didn’t just refuse to certify the race. Recently, local officials in embattled states like Michigan and Georgia have chosen not to certify elections, citing concerns with the integrity of the election process and often facing suspicions about the vote during public comment.
In May, canvassers in Delta County, Michigan, refused to certify the recall election following a pressure campaign by local election conspiracy activists. The officials eventually certified the race after the Michigan State Board of Elections sent the board a letter saying canvassers would face legal consequences for not following the mandate to certify.
Also in May, a Republican member of the Fulton County Elections Board in Georgia, Julie Adams, refused to certify the presidential primary election, citing a desire to review election data related to voter rolls.
Adams, who was appointed to the board in February, is the regional coordinator for the Election Integrity Network, a powerful national election conspiracy activist group led by former Trump legal counsel Cleta Mitchell. EIN seeks to undermine voting and ballot counting under the guise of electoral integrity.
Back in Washoe, the decision not to certify came as a surprise to Democratic Commissioner and Chairman Alexis Hill.
“I’m shocked and saddened,” Hill said shortly after the vote. “It’s not good for our republic, for our democracy.”
“The recount results show how incredibly effective our registrar’s office is, with all the pressure they are under,” she said.
