(Chuck Muth) – Way back on November 24, 2024, I filed a public records request with the Nevada Secretary of State’s office asking for “any and all records” related to a suspected voting fraud complaint we filed in March 2024.
But instead of complying with Nevada’s public records law, the SOS kept dragging its feet and kicking the can down the road. It’s been like pulling teeth to get them to produce the requested records.
So much for SOS Cisco Aguilar’s boast of “transparency.”
At issue was a suspected “double voter” from the 2022 general election.
According to official government records we reviewed – including the post office’s National Change of Address (NCOA) database and the Secretary of State’s voter registration rolls – the voter in question appeared to have voted in person in Texas as well as by mail in Nevada.
A little over two months after we filed the Election Integrity Violation Report (EIVR), the SOS advised that it had closed the case – but steadfastly refused to provide any details about how the case was resolved.
After trying to work cooperatively with the SOS on this matter, I finally filed an official public records request – which the SOS was *supposed* to comply with within five days.
It didn’t.
Instead we kept getting delay after delay – until after the 2025 session of the Nevada Legislature adjourned.
Which means we didn’t have the information for possible use to argue for or against election law reforms which were under consideration during the session.
How convenient.
When the SOS finally did get around to providing some, but not all, of the records associated with the case, it included a transcript of an interview the SOS investigator did with the voter in which the voter admitted to voting twice.
That same transcript, however, also brought to light the existence of several other documents which the SOS still has failed to provide us.
Tired of being jerked around by a government agency that has willfully ignored the state’s public records law, we filed a writ of mandamus today asking the court to compel the SOS to finally give us “any and all” documents related to this case.
Now it’s in a judge’s hands.
One other important note…
Again, this complaint and subsequent investigation by the SOS was based solely on a review of government databases. We had no “personal knowledge” of this voter.
And yet, the SOS proceeded with the investigation.
Fast-forward to this past March…
Again, using the same government records, we identified 881 individuals who filed an official, permanent change-of-address with the post office but nevertheless had a mail-in ballot cast in their names in Nevada’s 2024 general election.
Did any of these voters vote unlawfully since they no longer lived where they were registered? Or did someone somehow obtain their mail-in ballot and vote it for them?
Inquiring minds wanna know.
But when we filed EIVR’s on those voters three months ago, Secretary Aguilar rejected all of them using the excuse that we didn’t have “personal knowledge” of the voters.
How can you accept one voting fraud complaint based on review of government records in 2024 and then turn around and reject identically sourced complaints a year later?
Makes absolutely no sense.
Maybe Nevada’s elections aren’t as safe and secure as Secretary Aguilar keeps telling us they are. Maybe that’s what he’s hiding.
Let’s hope the court finally brings this mess into the sunshine. Election integrity depends on it.
FAMOUS (HOLLOW) LAST WORDS
“It is our commitment to the law and to the people of this state that every (Election Integrity Violation) report is carefully reviewed so that if there is even a single case of potential fraud identified, we conduct an investigation and, if necessary, refer it for criminal prosecution.” – Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar
“The secretary of state’s job is to protect democracy by keeping our elections fair and transparent.” – Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar campaign commercial, 2022
“The more transparent and open we can be about our elections, I’m all for it.” – Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, Nevada Independent, 9/12/22
“And then once you reach a normal level, you’ve then got to be more engaged and more transparent.” – Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11/26/22
“You have to be transparent.” – Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, KOCO News5, 2/22/23
“Nevada runs some of the most secure, accessible and transparent elections in the country, and we're dedicated to ensuring voters are confident in that.” – Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, Press Release, 2/5/24
The Pigpen Project is a project of Citizen Outreach Foundation, an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) grassroots organization founded in 1992. Donations are tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.