LAS VEGAS (CN) — The Republican National Committee, along with the Nevada Republican Party and a registered voter, sued Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and other election authorities Monday claiming several counties have outdated or inaccurate voter rolls.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," Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley said last week in conjunction with a similar case in Michigan.
This action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, accuses the state of violating the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by neglecting to ensure voter registration records are accurate and updated, a foundational requirement of the act.
Efforts to address these concerns commenced with a formal notice sent to Aguilar in December 2023 by the plaintiffs, urging compliance with National Voter Registration Act mandates. The state's inaction has escalated the situation to the current legal challenge, according to the suit.
"At least five counties in Nevada have inordinately high voter registration rates. At least three Nevada counties have more registered voters than they have adult citizens who are over the age of 18. That number of voters is impossibly high. An additional two counties have voter registration rates that exceed 90% of adult citizens over the age of 18. That figure far eclipses the national and statewide voter registration rate in recent elections," the plaintiffs say in the lawsuit.
In its January reply to the notice sent by the GOP, the state faulted the data the Republican National Committee utilized to assess the accuracy of the state's voter registration records.
"This is comparing apples to orangutans,” the Nevada attorney general wrote. “The CPS voter registration rates are crude estimates based on historical recall, obtained through personal or telephone interview, intended for an entirely different purpose."
The AG continued: “We assert that no presently accessible dataset offers a suitable basis for gauging the potential disparity between registration rates and the actual eligible voting population. However, if there is a preference for utilizing U.S. Census Bureau data, we find it puzzling that the more recent 1-year CVAP data has been disregarded. This dataset is relied upon by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission for calculating registration rates. Though not a perfect match, it at least presents a comparison akin to comparing apples to another fruit: oranges.”
Seeking a judicial declaration of noncompliance with the National Voter Registration Act by Nevada's election officials, the plaintiffs also seek a permanent injunction against future infractions and the formulation of an exhaustive voter list maintenance scheme.
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