The ACLU of Nevada has filed a second suit asking the courts to enjoin Mark Kampf, the county clerk in Nye County, Nevada, from conducting a hand count of ballots received in the 2022 midterm elections. The ACLU of Nevada — which is represented by itself and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law — argues that Kampf does not have the legal authority to move forward with the hand-count under either state law or the state constitution, which guarantees Nevada voters‘ right to have “election contests resolved fairly, accurately and efficiently.”
“The Nye County Clerk’s insistence on doing a hand-count of all ballots that have already been counted by machine tabulators defies best practices in the election security field,” said Sadmira Ramic, ACLU of Nevada Voting Rights Attorney. “It’s a haphazard and disorganized approach to one of the greatest responsibilities of election administration, counting every eligible vote.”
The primary basis for the suit is that any hand-counting procedures would have needed to be secured in advance of the election because Nevada law requires that at least 90 days before an election, counties submit to the Secretary of State’s office – and receive approval for – any election administration procedures related to ballot security and voting accuracy.
The plaintiffs also argue that the county clerk’s proposed hand-counting procedures do not include basic security measures to ensure that ballots are not altered during the counting process. Hand counting procedures deployed before Election Day – before the count was stopped by the Nevada Supreme Court in response to a previous lawsuit by the ACLU of Nevada – did not appear to have sufficient processes in place to keep volunteers from having access to the individuals counting and reading the ballots, or to ensure ballot preservation.
The petition is available here, along with more background on ACLU of Nevada v. The County of Nye and Mark Kampf.