WASHINGTON, DC – A year-long audit of public records conducted by RITE has produced overwhelming evidence that Clark County, NV, is violating the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by prematurely deleting records regarding its practices for canceling ineligible voters. The NVRA requires officials to retain these records for two years and make them available to the public upon request. Clark County has done neither and the county now faces litigation from RITE unless it immediately changes its practices and produces all available records responsive to RITE’s request.
“RITE has identified a new disappearing act in Las Vegas, but this one is far less entertaining than a magician on the Strip. By all indications, Clark County is deleting nearly all election-related emails after six months, rather than retaining them for two years as required by federal law and state law. RITE has tried for months to resolve this and other document-related issues with the county, but its requests for an explanation have been ignored.”
– Derek Lyons, President of RITE
In its audit, RITE uncovered substantial evidence that Clark County has a policy of deleting much of its election-related email after six months, including emails about its administration of important programs to remove ineligible voters from the voter registration rolls. Federal and state law require the county to retain these records for at least two years. Further, because RITE has been able to secure some of Clark County’s emails from other sources, if Clark County has not deleted them, it has refused to make these records available to RITE upon request, which also violates the NVRA.
RITE uncovered these facts after a year-long ordeal of trying to obtain internal emails and other records from Clark County as part of RITE’s broader audit of Nevada’s voter roll cleanup efforts. RITE worked with Clark County in good faith for months but ultimately, it only disclosed 169 emails in response to RITE’s comprehensive records requests. In comparison, Washoe County released over 4,300 emails in response to a nearly identical request, and even the Secretary of State has already disclosed more than 2,000 records in an ongoing production.
How RITE conducted its audit
RITE uncovered these violations by analyzing email “metadata” in the few emails it obtained, which revealed that Clark County appears to have a default 180-day destruction period for most emails sent to or from county election officials. RITE discovered this after finding that Washoe County and the Secretary of State disclosed dozens of emails that had Clark County officials on them and that Clark County itself should have produced to RITE but did not. RITE tried to obtain an explanation from the county for the anomalies, but the county has refused to respond to RITE’s recent inquiries.
What does the litigation notice mean?
The NVRA generally requires officials to be provided with a 90-day litigation notice before suing. RITE has laid out specific requirements and benchmarks for Clark County to meet to avoid litigation. RITE will work with the county in good faith to avoid costly litigation, but it must change its practices to comply with federal law. Clark County is also likely in violation of several state laws that require it to safeguard and preserve records, including those related to its voter registration practices.
The NVRA’s two-year retention policy and public records disclosure provision are key election transparency measures that allow the public to monitor officials’ compliance with voter registration laws, including those that require officials to remove non-residents and the deceased.
Clark County has 90 days to comply, after which RITE intends to sue to hold the county accountable to the law.
READ the litigation notice sent to Clark County, NV, HERE.
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