Clark County Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo has conducted an investigation into the validity of 90 voter registration addresses in Nevada’s most populous county. In a legal filing on August 15, attorneys for Portillo stated that the Registrar of Voters (ROV) and her staff reviewed a list of “various commercial addresses” provided by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) as part of a lawsuit filed by two Nevada residents and PILF on June 25.
According to the filing, the ROV exercised discretion in reviewing the addresses and will take appropriate action as required by federal and state law. It should be noted that Portillo and her staff were not legally obligated to conduct this investigation.
The county registrar’s findings revealed that out of the commercial addresses examined, 29 were confirmed as true residences for voters, 16 were previously identified as inactive voters, 12 had no active or inactive voters associated with them, nine were linked to voided registrations, four addresses belonged to voters who had already updated their registration information, and one was simply a typo. Additionally, further investigation is required for 19 other addresses according to the Election Department.
PILF brought these suspect commercial addresses to Portillo’s attention after combining computer analysis with physical canvassing. They provided video evidence, photographs, personal interviews, and affidavits documenting their findings. PILF emphasized that Nevada law requires election officials to regularly maintain voter rolls in order to ensure accuracy.
The group also highlighted that registering to vote from commercial addresses where individuals do not reside or from post office boxes is prohibited under Nevada law. Some examples of problematic locations referred for investigation included post office boxes, vacant lots, bars, state government offices, liquor stores fast food restaurants convenience stores parking lots tattoo parlors among others.
Clark County investigated all 90 commercial addresses requested by PILF but due to legal filings made by the county itself,the lawsuit filed against it was dismissed without prejudice by District Court Judge Timothy C.Williams on August22nd.Accordingto data collected duringthe2022 midterm electionbytheNevada SecretaryofState’soffice,a totalof95 ,556ballotsweresenttoundeliverableaddresses.Ina separate case,PILFanotherNevada residentfiledapetitionaskingthecourtto compelWashoeCountyelectionofficialsto investigate dozensvotersregisteredatcommercialaddressesflaggedinthatjurisdictionbythefoundation.WashoeCounty spokespersonBethanyDrysdalestatedthat shecouldnotcommentontheongoingcaseotherthan sayingthatWashoeCountyInterimRegistrarofVoters Carrie-AnnBurgessiscommittedtomaintainingcleanandaccuratevoterrolls.NevadaSecretaryofState FranciscoAguilarhasalsosidedwithBurgessinopposingthepetition.PILFreferred48voterregistrationsto Washoeelectionofficialsforinvestigation.Bisstated,”Itisa small ,manageable ,representativesamplethatcouldbe quicklyinvestigatedifthewillwasthere.Ifnot,itissmall enoughtoallowthecourtaneasy ,reasonableremedy.”