LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Judge Timothy Williams denied the Republican National Committee's lawsuit that requested Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria add Republican signature verification workers to the mail ballot verification team Thursday.
The lawsuit in Clark County has been the tip of a litigation iceberg across the U.S. ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
The RNC has opened 75 cases in 20 states according to RNC Director of Strategic Communications Gates McGavick.
"It's because a lot of these states, in Democrat led counties, in Democrat states, they aren't following the laws on the books," McGavick said.
Mcgavick was disappointed in the judge's ruling that the temporary election workers didn't qualify as a "board" and therefore didn't have to follow a Nevada law requiring a roughly equal partisan breakdown.
"At the end of the day, these are the people who decide which votes count, and which votes don't count based on who is counting the ballots," he said.
The judge also added that there was no reason to expect an equal partisan split among the team as they play no role in deciding election policy.
Some political experts warned the nationwide legal action undertaken by the RNC has been preparation for another round of what they believe to be unfounded Republican challenges to the 2022 election results.
"There was no need for such a suit," UNLV Associate Professor Michael Green said, "and the judge decided this was something I really need to lose sleep over."
Green said the national tide of pre-election litigation served a more ominous end-goal than election integrity and, instead, added extra doubt to the integrity of elections in preparation for the denial of legitimate results in close Republican losses.
"Essentially you're saying, oh, you have done these elections for however long you've done them, and they were just fine, but now we don't trust you," he said. "That's troubling, frankly, for the fate of the country."
McGavick strongly denied the notion that RNC election lawsuits served a hidden purpose saying the committee only sues when they believe the law has been broken.
"We don't sue without cause," he said. "This is not political theater. This is strategically showing that laws are followed so people have faith in the electoral process."
McGavick said their Nevada Election Integrity team would be ready to pursue further legal action in Clark County if needed.
