Nevada Supreme Court Denies Republican “Signature Verification Board” Request
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, Nov. 8, the Nevada Supreme Court denied a request by the Republican National Committee (RNC) to add more Republican members to Clark County, Nevada’s “signature verification board.” Despite the fact that a district court already rejected this request and ruled that “it is a big stretch to classify temporary employees as board members on a board that the County Registrar never created,” the RNC alleged that the “signature verification board disproportionately excludes Republicans” in violation of Nevada law and asked the state Supreme Court to step in. The Nevada Supreme Court denied the RNC’s request, deeming that Nevada law “contains no requirement that a board verify the signatures.”
In denying the request, the Nevada Supreme Court held that “[n]othing in [Nevada law] fashions or addresses any board for signature verification purposes or requires the Registrar to create a board of signature verifiers.” The court summarized the RNC’s request by stating: “Essentially, RNC appears to argue that anyone assisting the Registrar in election efforts is necessarily an election board to which [Nevada law] applies. We decline to read such a substantive requirement into a definitional statute in this manner, without consideration of the statutory scheme specifically governing elections and the verification of mail ballot signatures discussed above.” The court concluded that the RNC “has not demonstrated a clear legal right to the relief requested.” In denying the RNC its requested relief, the Nevada Supreme Court put an end to Republican attempts to further politicize ministerial roles in election administration.