In an abrupt about-face, a majority of Reno, Nevada, area commissioners voted to certify the results of two local elections, a week after three of the five commissioners, Republicans, blocked the certification.
Two of the Washoe County Commission members who voted against certification last week, Clara Andriola and Michael Clark, changed their votes after learning the law required a “yes” vote. A third commissioner, Jeanne Herman, stuck to her guns.
The vote is a test ahead of November, when the same commission will certify the results of the presidential, state and local elections. Washoe County, which includes Reno, is Nevada’s second-largest county after Clark County around Las Vegas. The closely divided swing county could decide the winner of the battleground state’s election.
Since 2020, local officials across the country, including in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, have tried to block the certification of election results they don’t agree with. It is not common for a majority of a committee to vote against certifying the vote.
The vote went ahead despite the objections.
The election commission certified the results despite hours of urging from residents not to do so, a common scene in a county that has become a hotbed of election skepticism since the 2020 election.
Clark, who also voted against the certification of the presidential primary earlier this year, told USA Today he changed his vote based on advice he received from seven attorneys he knows personally or who work for the county.
“These are not votes,” Clark said. “I was forced to admit that whatever was submitted was submitted.” He said he felt pressured by the state but still had concerns about how many people were on the county’s voter rolls, which he cited as a reason for rejecting the presidential primary results.
Andriola, the commission’s swing voter, had never previously voted “no” on a certification vote. He did not respond to requests for comment but said he changed his vote before the vote based on updated legal advice. Last week, county attorneys advised commissioners to vote according to their conscience.
“There are obstacles to overcome, obstacles to die through, and this election may be one of them,” Herman, who also voted against certifying the two 2022 elections, said before the vote.
The Secretary of State’s case continues.
Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) sued Washoe County after it held its initial certification vote, asking the state Supreme Court to enforce the burden of certification. Aguilar’s office said he has no plans to drop the lawsuit now that the commissioners have reversed course.
“Washoe County’s initial decision not to investigate the election results could have ramifications for Nevada and the nation if the issue is not addressed appropriately,” Aguilar’s office said in a statement, pointing to other counties holding special elections whose results will need to be certified within the coming weeks.
A similar lawsuit is underway in Fulton County, Georgia, where Board of Elections Commissioner Julie Adams asked the court in May to declare that her position is discretionary, not mandatory. She is represented by the America First Institute. The Fulton County Republican Party and the Democratic National Committee have both asked to intervene.
“I think the fact that the lawsuit was filed well before Election Day is important,” said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, “because the scope of the agency’s authority should become clear well before Election Day.”
