In ‘dangerous precedent,’ Washoe Commissioners refuse to certify election results

Washoe County Commissioners voted Tuesday to not approve results of two races that had votes recounted, potentially setting “a dangerous precedent for elections in Nevada.” Commissioner Clara Andriola has requested a reconsideration vote for next Tuesday.

The Washoe County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday, for the first time ever, to not certify June’s Primary Election results for two races following recounts, prompting the Nevada Secretary of State to file a petition to the Nevada Supreme Court against the commissioners for not following state law.

This comes after two unsuccessful candidates contested the election results and requested a recount for their races. Former fire chief for Sparks, Nev. Mark Lawson ran for the Washoe County Commission District 4 to challenge Commissioner Clara Andriola but received 25% of the vote, nearly 2,000 votes behind Andriola. Paul White, a former teacher with a controversial background, ran for the District G seat in the Washoe County School Board of Trustees and landed in fourth place after receiving about 12% of the vote in the primary.

Unofficially, the results remained essentially unchanged after the recount with both candidates losing by a significant margin in their respective races. However, in an unprecedented 3-2 vote, Washoe Commissioners decided not to canvas, or certify, the results. The vote was split along party lines, with the three Republican commissioners (including Andriola, who received 43% of the vote in the primary) voted against the canvas.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a statement that the commissioners’ decision is “unlawful and besieges core tenets of fair elections” and that by not making the results official, commissioners potentially set “a dangerous precedent for elections in Nevada.”  

Commissioner Andriola, who is considered a swing vote, has since requested a reconsideration vote to approve the recount for next Tuesday.

“The importance of this issue cannot be overstated. This law is nonpartisan, and this response is about something far more serious than any political stance or office: the democratic process itself,” Aguilar said in the statement. “We remain committed to ensuring fairness in every electoral process in Nevada — from the time the first ballot is cast until all results are certified.”

State law requires county commissioners to certify election results — including recount results — within five business days after the count is completed, which means July 10 was the deadline for the recount that wrapped up on July 2. 

Far-right activist and election denier Robert Beadles, who has donated over $250,000 to Republican candidates in Nevada since 2022, paid for the recount. He, along with several supporters, also called on commissioners to not accept the election results and urged a hand recount. 

However, Nevada law states that recounts must be conducted in the same manner as the original vote tabulation. 

In the petition, the Secretary of State, which oversees the state’s elections, said that the board has “absolutely no discretion to refuse or otherwise fail to perform” the canvassing and that commissioners “failed” to do their part in the election process.

“I take serious the role of the Attorney General’s Office to defend Nevada’s elections against anyone who might try to delegitimize accurate election results or undermine a count of the people,” said Ford.