Washoe County Commissioners have rejected a so-called “election integrity” resolution yesterday, by a vote of 4-1.
The changes brought forward by Republican Commissioner Jeanne Herman included proposals to move the county to almost all paper ballots, counting all ballots by hand and placing sheriff’s deputies in all polling places in the county.
However, the resolution failed to gain support from other commissioners, partly due to public backlash, but also because a staff report called into question the legality and costs of much of the proposal.
Republican Commissioner Bob Lucey said he had concerns with the way the resolution was vetted.
“I believe that political force-feeding to make radical and terrible changes in the middle of the pandemic was wrong," Lucey said. "I think these actions couldn’t be properly checked or balanced. I think we risk getting in a similar fouled up situation here moving forward with the same type of resolution.”
Despite the concerns over the process, Lucey and fellow Republican Vaughn Hartung said they are willing to have future conversations over topics such as how the county should clean its voter rolls.
It’s unlikely those conversations will happen before June’s party primaries.
Paul Boger, Northern Nevada and state government reporter, KNPR
