NV Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske SUED BY TRUMP GROUP TO STOP MAIL IN BALLOT ELECTION

April 26, 2020

Rob Lauer Political Reporter

Annie Black, Mesquite City Council Woman and Republican candidate for Assembly District 19

The Nevada Secretary of State, Barbara K. Cegavske, has decided to conduct June’s primary elections via mail-in ballots.  This is wrong on at least two levels…

1.)  The authority to order this is based on a VERY liberal reading of an obscure provision in state law that allows counties to request that certain precincts be designated “mail-in” due their small size.

That law was NEVER intended to be used to justify mail-in balloting in EVERY precinct in the county.

2.)  Completely changing the entire electoral system in our state should not be made by one individual.  A decision of this magnitude should be authorized only by the 63 elected members of the Legislature with the concurrence of the governor.

As reported by Breitbart:

The grassroots election integrity group True the Vote is suing Nevada on behalf of registered voters in the state over Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s plan to impose universal mail-in voting for the state’s June 9 primary election.

True the Vote is asking for a “declaratory and injunctive relief to halt the secretary of state’s imposition of an ‘universal mail-in election,’” contending that her action violates both the state’s and country’s constitution and would lead to “widespread election fraud.”

Cegavske announced changes to the election in March, detailing in a press release that all active registered voters in Nevada will be mailed an absentee ballot.

“No action or steps, such as submitting an absentee ballot request application, will be required by individual voters in order to receive a ballot in the mail,” she wrote, citing coronavirus-related concerns.

“Because of the many uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the immediate need to begin preparations for the 2020 primary election, it became necessary for me to take action regarding how the election will be conducted,” Cegavske stated.

“Based on extensive conversations with Nevada’s 17 county election officials, we have jointly determined that the best option for the primary election is to conduct an all-mail election,” she added.

Democrats took their calls a step further, “suing to force Secretary Cegavske to mail ballots to every name in the voter registry, not just active registrations” as they seek to “weaken current state rules that invalidate ballots because of mismatched signatures and prohibit vote harvesting,” according to True the Vote.

True the Vote contends that universal mail-in voting violates the rights of U.S. citizens because it, according to the press release:

• removes safeguards against fraudulent votes that dilute legal votes;
• violates citizens’ rights to vote in federal elections with the manner of election chosen by the state legislature;
• usurps elected representatives’ constitutional prerogative to choose the manner of election and replaces the electoral system devised by the legislature with a plan devised and implemented by unelected administrators and political appointees;
• transgresses the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeated admonition (based on the so-called “Purcell Principle”) that the courts ordinarily should not alter election rules on the eve of an election, which, because the Principle is anchored in the right to vote and its potential debasement, applies equally to political appointees and state and local election administrators as well; and
• violates citizens’ right to a republican form of government guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a victory in New Mexico, where the GOP defeated the left’s aggressive push for statewide mail-in voting.