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True the Vote Sues Nevada to Protect Voters’ Rights 

Asks court to stop Nevada secretary of state from imposing universal mail-in voting by administrative fiat because it removes safeguards against fraudulent votes; usurps the legislature; and violates citizens’ constitutional rights

Reno, NV, April 22, 2020 – True the Vote today filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on behalf of three registered Nevada voters asking for declaratory and injunctive relief to halt the secretary of state’s imposition of an  “universal mail-in election”  (Stanley William Paher, et al. v. Barbara Cegavske, in her capacity as Nevada Secretary of State and Deanna Spikula, in her official capacity as Registrar of Voters for Washoe County (No. 3:20-cv-00243)). The lawsuit argues the secretary of state’s mail-in-balloting plan violates both the Nevada and United States Constitutions and that imposing a universal mail-in balloting would lead to widespread election fraud.

On March 24, 2020, supposedly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske bent to demands by Democrats and state administrators and announced a plan essentially to abolish in-person voting and conduct, instead, the June 9, 2020 primary election by universal mail-in balloting. According to the plan, all active registered voters in Nevada automatically will be mailed a primary-election ballot for mail-in voting. Voters are not required to take any action or steps, such as submitting an application, in order to receive a ballot, as required in traditional absentee balloting.

True the Vote claims specifically that the secretary of state’s plan to impose universal mail-in voting (“all-mail” voting) violates citizens’ right to vote because it:

• 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.

On April 16th, in a separate suit, Nevada Democrats pressed even further, suing  to force Secretary Cegavske to mail ballots to every name in the voter registry, not just active registrations. Additionally, they seek to weaken current state rules that invalidate ballots because of mismatched signatures and prohibit vote harvesting.

True the Vote’s lawsuit filed against Nevada today comes less than a month after winning a stunning victory for election integrity in New Mexico, stopping the state’s efforts to impose universal mail-in voting. On March 30, a group of New Mexico county clerks together with the secretary of state, petitioned the Supreme Court to shut down all in-person voting in the June 2 New Mexico primary election and impose, instead, universal mail-in voting.

On April 14, the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously rejected the bureaucrats’ demand for the Court to go over the legislature’s head and impose universal mail-in balloting from the bench. Instead, the Court directed county clerks to mail absentee ballot applications to all registered voters, preserving the option to vote by mail while still supporting security measures to protect against fraud.

“Three weeks ago, we prevailed with the New Mexico Supreme Court to stop an unconstitutional scheme that would have imposed universal mail-in voting from the bench. Today we are in federal court to defend the rights of Nevada voters,” said True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht. “These are just two of many states that are being used in a well-orchestrated globalist scheme to intentionally destabilize state run election processes, giving free-range to fraud in ways that will remain long after the fog of COVID has lifted. This is a blatant attempt to silence the voice of the American voter by destroying the processes that keep elections free and fair.  We’re asking all American voters to stand with us in defense of voters’ rights. Make no mistake, if we do not act now to preserve our liberties, they will be taken from us.”

James Bopp, Jr., of The Bopp Law Firm PC, lead counsel for the Nevada Voters, and General Counsel for True the Vote Voters’ Rights Initiative says: “There are national implications for voters nationwide. There is no precedent for such an extraordinary bureaucratic action to overturn laws passed laws by the Legislature to regulate voting in state elections and to put the bureaucrats in charge. Should these politicians succeed in Nevada, it would create a precedent for others to follow and to impose similarly unprotected and unrestricted voting procedures though bureaucratic fiat.”

Plaintiffs’ Preliminary-Injunction Motion

Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

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True the Vote (TTV) is an IRS-designated 501(c)3 voters' rights organization, founded to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. TTV empowers organizations and individuals across the nation to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation. For more information, please visit www.truethevote.org.