Nevada counties approving voting results; no snags reported
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Elected officials in several Nevada counties have reviewed and signed off on results of the Nov. 8 vote, in preparation for sending final tallies to the state’s top election official for certification.
Storey County commissioners on Tuesday became the first to canvass, or review, the results and finalize the 2,575 votes cast in their rural jurisdiction east of Reno. About 72.5% of active voters in Storey County cast ballots, well above the statewide turnout total of 54.7%, according to Nevada Secretary of State data.
In all, more than 1 million people statewide cast ballots in advance, by mail or in person.
Commissioners in the rural counties of Pershing, Lander, Mineral and Churchill took unanimous action Wednesday to accept the results of a combined 15,797 votes.
Churchill County Clerk Linda Rothery told county commissioners in Fallon that her staff and volunteers “were really spread thin this year” but the “election did go great.”
“Very smooth, very transparent — had no problems with anything,” Rothery said.
White Pine County Commissioner Ian Bullis cast a lone dissenting vote Wednesday in his jurisdiction where 3,462 people, or nearly 67% of eligible voters, cast ballots.
Bullis said without evidence that he believed voting in White Pine County was free and fair but the process in others was not. His commission colleagues approved the canvass, 4-1.
Jennifer Russell, an aide to Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, said there were no reports to state election administrators of widespread voting snags or ballot irregularities.
“The election was fair and accurate,” Russell said.
Two Nevada counties were scheduled to canvass vote totals Thursday and nine more on Friday — including Clark and Washoe counties, home to the state’s Las Vegas and Reno-area population centers.
Nye County also is due to canvass the vote on Friday. A decision by county commissioners and an interim election chief to count ballots both by machine and by hand drew court challenges from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
Cegavske is due to report the results of the canvass to the Nevada Supreme Court for certification next Tuesday that the election is complete.
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Associated Press writers Scott Sonner and Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada contributed to this report. Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326.
